Aimbrain
AcquiredEntrepreneur First '14London, GB · Founded 2014 · 7 known investors
AimBrain offered Biometric Identity as-a-Service to banks and other financial institutions, combining voice, facial, and behavioral biometrics with cloud-based authentication for identity verification and fraud reduction. The company originated and holds a patent on "step-up authentication," a term later adopted across the industry. BioCatch acquired AimBrain in 2020.
Also known as AimBrain · AimBrain Ltd
Founders & leadership
Aimbrain was founded in 2014 by Andrius Sutas and Alesis Novik.
Investors · 7
Also in the syndicate · 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026AimBrain was a London-based provider of cloud-based, multimodal biometric identity authentication, marketed as Biometric Identity as-a-Service (BIDaaS). The platform combined passive methods — behavioral biometrics such as typing speed, hand movement, touch pressure, swipe patterns and device handling, plus anomaly detection — with active biometric modalities including facial recognition, voice verification and a combined audio/lip-synchronization module designed to counter spoofing. Proprietary deep learning models built increasingly accurate user profiles over time, authenticating the user rather than the device and operating across web, mobile, call-centre and in-branch or ATM channels.
A central design principle was step-up/step-down authentication: low-risk interactions were handled by passive behavioral monitoring with no user action, while elevated risk scores escalated the session through additional biometric modules. This supported use cases across the digital identity lifecycle, including onboarding, login authentication, account takeover detection and transaction authorization, and was positioned against KYC, AML and PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication requirements. Integration was delivered via open-source SDKs and an API, with a free self-service dashboard, AimBrain On Demand, for developer trials.
The company was headquartered at Level 39, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London. It was acquired by BioCatch in February 2020 and its technology was folded into BioCatch's behavioral biometrics platform.
Founding story
Andrius Sutas and Alesis Novik met through Entrepreneur First, London's accelerator for technical founders, and started AimBrain in the same cohort that produced Magic Pony. Sources give the founding year as 2014 (Global Recognition Awards, LeadIQ) and 2015 (TechCrunch). Sutas's background included contributing to open-source projects for the European Space Agency, and he later co-authored 'The Founder Handbook'. Sutas served as CEO and Novik as CTO; both were named to a Forbes European Technology list in 2018.
Business model
AimBrain sold cloud-delivered biometric authentication as a service (BIDaaS) to enterprises, principally banks and financial institutions, integrated via open-source SDKs and an API. Customers could adopt individual biometric modules or combine them, using passive behavioral monitoring as a default layer and escalating to active facial or voice checks when risk thresholds were exceeded. A free self-service tier, AimBrain On Demand, provided up to 1,000 API calls per month as a trial-to-deployment path for developers and smaller fintechs.
Commercial revenue came from enterprise sales of cloud-based biometric authentication services consumed via API and SDKs, with a free-for-life self-service tier (up to 1,000 API calls per month) acting as an entry point ahead of paid deployment. One aggregator estimates annual revenue of roughly $612,000, and another places revenue in the $1M range; these are third-party estimates rather than company-reported figures.
Traction
Reported traction includes named clients and partners (NOW Money, Babb, Shieldpay), distribution through ForgeRock's Trust Network and the BlackBerry Marketplace, and integration of biometric authentication into nearly 100 new applications via AimBrain On Demand within roughly six months of its 2018 launch. The company raised approximately £4.35 million across a 2015 seed and a 2017 Series A before its 2020 acquisition by BioCatch, whose platform the sources say now protects over 500 million digital banking customers.
Latest developments
The most recent corporate development in the sources is the February 2020 acquisition by BioCatch, after which AimBrain's multimodal capabilities were integrated into BioCatch's behavioral biometrics platform and the AimBrain team joined BioCatch. One source notes AimBrain received a 2026 Global Recognition Award for its multimodal biometric authentication platform. Third-party data aggregators continue to list an AimBrain entity in London with a small headcount and estimated revenue.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
AimBrain was positioned as a specialist biometric identity as-a-service vendor serving financial institutions in the fraud detection and authentication market. Its acquirer described that market as rapidly consolidating; BioCatch was characterized as the global leader in behavioral biometrics, holding more than 40 patents with 25 pending at the time of the deal. Third-party listings place AimBrain among IT security and fraud prevention vendors alongside companies such as Jumio, SEON, buguroo and Shufti Pro, and market reports list it among mobile payment authentication and voice biometrics vendors.
Sources describe AimBrain's principal differentiators as a modular, 'plug and play' platform allowing behavioral, facial and voice authentication to be used simultaneously or granularly, and its adaptive step-up/step-down escalation model that applied friction only when risk indicators warranted it. Co-founder Andrius Sutas argued that no single biometric modality is sufficient on its own and that a platform approach is required, claiming the technology outperformed the market in testing and live production even at single-module level. The company also held patents, including one covering the use of context when collecting biometric data (for example, voice samples captured with background noise), and authenticated the user rather than relying on device trust.
Technology
The platform used proprietary deep learning to combine passive behavioral biometrics and anomaly detection with active facial, voice and audio/lip-sync modules in a unified cloud architecture. Behavioral signals captured included typing speed, hand movements, touch pressure, swipe patterns and device handling, with user profiles refined over time by machine learning to enable continuous authentication throughout a session rather than only at login. Five biometric authentication modules were listed on the ForgeRock Trust Network. Integration used open-source SDKs and a REST-style API. IP included four patents, among them a UK patent awarded in 2017 for improving biometric accuracy and a method accounting for capture context such as background noise in voice samples.
Go-to-market
AimBrain reached customers through direct enterprise sales to banks and financial institutions and through channel and technology partnerships, including MYPINPAD, InAuth, iDENprotect, ForgeRock's Trust Network, the BlackBerry Marketplace for BlackBerry Dynamics users and Contego/NorthRow. It also used a developer-led motion via the free AimBrain On Demand self-service API dashboard, and published thought-leadership whitepapers on cloud authentication and GDPR compliance.
Banks, fintech companies and other financial institutions, plus digital wallet providers, payment service providers and enterprises subject to KYC, AML and PSD2 requirements. Named clients and partners include NOW Money, Babb and Shieldpay; the free self-service tier targeted individual developers, app builders and smaller fintechs.
Geography
Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with an address at Level 39, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf. Customer and partner deployments referenced include the UAE, where NOW Money used the technology for a mobile wallet serving migrant workers.
History
The company was founded in 2014 (TechCrunch states 2015) by Andrius Sutas and Alesis Novik, who met through the Entrepreneur First programme in London, in the same cohort as Magic Pony, which was acquired by Twitter for a reported figure of up to $150 million. AimBrain raised £350,000 from Episode 1 in 2015 and a £4 million Series A led by BGF Ventures in June 2017. Between 2016 and 2019 it announced partnerships with NOW Money, InAuth, iDENprotect, BlackBerry Dynamics, ForgeRock, MYPINPAD and Contego/NorthRow, launched its self-service platform and additional anti-spoofing modules, published whitepapers on cloud authentication and GDPR, and was awarded a UK patent in 2017. In February 2020, BioCatch acquired AimBrain's multimodal biometric authentication platform for an undisclosed cash amount; the team joined BioCatch and four AimBrain patents were added to BioCatch's portfolio.
Risks & controversies
No controversies or legal disputes are reported in the sources. Data-quality caveats exist: sources disagree on the founding year (2014 versus 2015) and on the acquisition date (February 2020 per BioCatch's press release and Biometric Update, versus April 2019 as stated in one awards write-up), and headcount, funding total and revenue figures from aggregators are estimates that conflict with one another.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 15
launches, deals, and filingsBioCatch acquired AimBrain's multimodal biometric authentication platform for an undisclosed amount of cash, with the AimBrain team joining BioCatch and AimBrain's 4 patents added to BioCatch's IP holdings. The technology was to be integrated into BioCatch's next-generation behavioral biometrics platform.
Contego (NorthRow) partnered with AimBrain to launch the RemoteVerify solution.
Multi-factor authentication provider MYPINPAD partnered with AimBrain to offer financial institutions a secure sandbox environment for developing PSD2-compliant app solutions using AimBrain biometrics.
AimBrain announced Babb and Shieldpay as clients of its biometric authentication technology, and reported its self-service biometric API dashboard AimBrain On Demand was on pace to reach 100 new applications before the end of 2018.
AimBrain's five biometric authentication modules were added to the ForgeRock Trust Network, bringing visible and invisible server-side authentication and expanding support for cloud deployments.
AimBrain unveiled a free-for-life self-service platform allowing entrepreneurs, app developers and technical audiences to replace PINs, passwords and codes with biometric facial and voice-based user verification in a trial-to-deployment environment.
AimBrain introduced an optional module combining audio and lip synchronization with facial authentication to counter spoofing technologies.
Co-founders CEO Andrius Sutas and CTO Alesis Novik were included on the Forbes European Technology list.
AimBrain and law firm JAG Shaw Baker published a whitepaper examining the impact of GDPR, effective May 2018, on companies using biometrics.
AimBrain's biometric authentication app became available on the BlackBerry Marketplace for BlackBerry Dynamics users.
AimBrain partnered with iDENprotect to combine iDENprotect's software-based hardware-backed security technology with AimBrain's facial authentication module.
AimBrain was awarded a UK patent for a technical process enabling greater accuracy in biometric authentication.
AimBrain published a whitepaper, 'Cloud Authentication', on the benefits of moving authentication from on-device to the cloud.
InAuth and AimBrain partnered to deliver a six-factor mobile authentication solution for banks, financial institutions, digital wallet providers and payment service providers.
AimBrain signed a partnership agreement with mobile wallet and remittance service NOW Money to provide biometric authentication for its smartphone app; NOW Money serves migrant workers in the UAE and used AimBrain facial and behavioral authentication to eliminate passwords.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Companies House · registry record
View on Companies House ↗- Registered name
- AIMBRAIN LTD
- Company number
- SC479012
- Status
- Dissolved
- Company type
- Private limited company
- Incorporated
- 2 Jun 2014
- Dissolved
- 11 Sept 2015
- Registered office
- 34/4 34/4 Parkside Terrace, Edinburgh, EH16 5XP
Current officers
- Alesis Novik — director, appointed 2 Jun 2014
- Andrius Sutas — director, appointed 2 Jun 2014
Source: Companies House public register · retrieved 21 Aug 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- AimBrain | Biometric Updatebiometricupdate.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Aimbrain do?
- London-based cloud biometric identity-as-a-service platform for financial institutions, acquired by BioCatch in February 2020.
- Who founded Aimbrain?
- Aimbrain was founded by Andrius Sutas, Alesis Novik in 2014.
- Who are Aimbrain's investors?
- Aimbrain's investors include Entrepreneur First, Episode1.
- Where is Aimbrain headquartered?
- Aimbrain is headquartered in London, GB.