The Company and Our Investment

Based in London, Semafone Ltd was founded in 2009 by a consortium of call centre professionals, who were instrumental in the development of ‘Semafone'; a fraud prevention software for use in call centres. 

In the last 12 months Semafone has secured valued customers such as the John Lewis Partnership, Argos, Specsavers and the Manchester Airports Group.  The new investment from Octopus will accelerate the Company's growth in the UK and abroad, through investment in sales and marketing.

Semafone aims to secure sensitive data passed over the phone, including bank details, personal identification data and credit/debit card transactions.  Without interrupting caller and agent dialogue, customers input their card details via the telephone keypad, eliminating the need to read out the card number and three digit security number to the phone operator, removing the risk of operator fraud.

"We selected Octopus Ventures as our investment partner because of their track record of supporting businesses like ours, and their reputation for doing so in a way that is constructive, consultative and collaborative. We wanted to work closely with a company that would genuinely add value to the development of our business, above and beyond simply providing us with the funding we needed.''

Tim Critchley, Managing Director, Semafone