Venture arm of Accenture invests in financial crime specialist Quantexa
Global consulting firm Accenture has invested in a new partnership with data analytics firm Quantexa. The alliance will see the pair work to offer solutions tackling money laundering in the financial sector.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, less than 1% of global illicit financial flows are currently being seized by authorities. This scarcely scrapes the surface of global money laundering transactions then, which are estimated to be as high as 5% of global GDP, or roughly $1-2 trillion annually. In the UK, the economy is suffering to the tune of £37 billion a year because of serious and organised crime funded by this – including drug dealing, people trafficking and child abuse – according to the National Crime Agency.
Amid this backdrop, global IT advisory firm Accenture’s Ventures wing has entered into an agreement with professional services Quantexa to help work on changing that. Headquartered in London, Quantexa provides data analytics solutions to companies and institutions based on the latest developments in big data software. The firm’s software uses real-time entity resolution with network analytics and AI to knit together vast and disparate data sets and derive actionable intelligence. The international team of experts also has offices in New York, Brussels and Sydney.
The deal with Accenture will help Quantexa accelerate the development of its AI-powered entity resolution and network analytics technology working with Accenture Applied Intelligence. The new collaboration will help clients uncover new actionable insights across multiple industry use cases including fighting financial crime. As part of the alliance agreement, Accenture plans to build new capabilities that combine its technology and risk expertise with Quantexa’s network analytics platform. The collaboration aims to develop multiple AI-enabled solutions addressing business challenges in areas including anti-money laundering, credit risk and customer insight.
The minority investment made by Accenture Ventures will meanwhile extend Accenture’s artificial intelligence and network analytics capabilities, helping banks fight financial crime. Quantexa constitutes the latest addition to the investment portfolio of Accenture Ventures, which focuses on teaming with and investing in companies that create or apply innovative enterprise technologies.
Commenting on the deal, Adam Markson, a Managing Director at Accenture Finance & Risk Services, said, “Accenture is committed to employing innovative techniques to help our clients tackle complex issues such as money laundering. By investing in Quantexa and combining our expertise, we are equipping our clients with new technologies and approaches to solving the most pressing data issues. Furthermore, the strategic alliance further enhances our Financial Crime Analytics Utility, which will help prevent the movement of illicit funds that enable real world issues, including human trafficking and drug crime.”
Vishal Marria, CEO of Quantexa, added, “We are delighted to be working with Accenture to deliver and scale our technology to help solve our clients’ biggest data challenges. Creating context is critical in investigations to help clients connect the dots in their data, allowing them to see the complete picture and make better decisions.”
