Oslo, Norway, 13th June 2013 - Mobile authentication specialist Encap has announced a new round of investment from ProVenture Seed, an investor in early-stage technology-based Norwegian companies with international potential. ProVenture Seed joins earlier investor Alliance Ventures, helping Encap bring its banking-grade, software-based authentication platform to a wider market.

Encap’s solution is an alternative to the one-time password based authentication commonplace in the financial services market and currently being rolled out by industry giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Rather than using SMS codes or hardware tokens, Encap employs a user’s mobile device to enable in-app, banking-grade security.

In the last year, Encap’s client base has increased considerably, growing tenfold in the European market. Companies using Encap´s products now include Santander Consumer Bank Norway, EnterCard and Sparebanken Vest, and partners include Evry, Fujitsu and Signicat. The new investment capital will allow Encap to expand its client base in existing markets, and secure clients and partnerships in new markets, the USA and UK in particular.

“Encap is a company with the potential to disrupt a market that will be worth more than $5bn by 2017*,” said Herbjørn Skjervold, Managing Partner, ProVenture Seed. “Multi-factor authentication combined with risk profiling is now seen as the replacement for passwords, but the exact mechanism to deliver this level of security is still in flux. This presents an enormous opportunity. Encap has all of the advantages of the systems currently being adopted by the big players, but none of the downsides – it is well positioned to take advantage of dissatisfaction from both users and service providers.”

“Awareness of multi-factor authentication is increasing as a result of high profile security breaches and moves by industry giants to invest in new ways to defend their users and themselves,” said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO, Encap. “There is enormous demand for alternative technology that takes advantage of mobility and the cloud to offer a solution that’s simply better and more transparent to the user. ProVenture Seed has a track record of helping technology companies succeed in a global market.”

“Our dream is to deliver uncompromising speed, security and simplicity to users and businesses around the world. ProVenture Seed will help us to realise this dream,” concluded Jørgensen.

Encap was demonstrated last month at Finovate, a showcase for the biggest and most innovative ideas in financial technology. A video of the short demonstration is available here:
http://bit.ly/ZmQBDb