Finsphere Adds $7.3M, Vodafone Ventures Board Member

Bellevue, WA-based Finsphere has added $7.3 million in fundraising and a board member from Vodafone Ventures, according to a new SEC filing. The new money, which appears to include the sale and exercise of some options, adds to a total of $3.95 million that Finsphere raised in related equity financings last year.

Finsphere, founded in 2007, is headed by veterans of the wireless and finance industries. It offers software and data analysis services that use consumer mobile phones for identity verification, with an emphasis on helping banks and other financial providers track fraud and identity theft. Finsphere also offers a slimmed-down version of its financial-fraud protections for consumers, called Pinpoint.

The apparent investment from Vodafone Ventures is significant—it’s the venture arm of Vodafone, a huge U.K.-based mobile operator. The new Finsphere board member is Vodafone Ventures director Tobin Ireland, a tech-industry veteran whose previous work includes a stint as chief marketing officer at AOL.

This latest chunk of money brings Finsphere’s venture investment total to about $30 million. Previous investors are Bezos Expeditions, Frazier Technology Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. I’ve e-mailed Finsphere for comment on the latest SEC filing and will update if I hear more.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.