Heka, a firm specialising in real-time identity intelligence, has raised $14m in a Series A funding round aimed at scaling its fraud-fighting technology for financial institutions.
The round was led by Windare Ventures, with participation from Barclays, Cornèr Banca, and other institutional investors. The fresh injection of capital will support the company’s expansion in the US and reinforce its presence in the UK and European markets.
Founded by Rafael Berber, Ishay Horowitz, and Idan Bar-Dov, Heka provides a web intelligence platform built to detect synthetic fraud and online identity manipulation. Drawing from tradecraft used in the intelligence community, Heka analyses publicly available web data to construct comprehensive, real-time digital profiles that reveal aliases, behavioural red flags, and reputational risks.
With its newly secured funds, Heka intends to accelerate its U.S. operations and expand its customer base across Europe. The funding will also support product innovation, enabling Heka to further develop its analyst-grade AI engine and deepen its integration into the workflows of financial institutions.
Unlike traditional fraud detection tools, which often rely on outdated data or rigid blacklists, Heka’s AI continuously processes live web data to generate fraud signals, updated contact information, and contextual risk insights. In a recent deployment with a global payments firm, the platform identified 65% of account takeover losses without interfering with legitimate customer activity.
The company’s technology is already embedded within banks, payment processors, and pension funds. Institutions use Heka’s insights for fraud prevention, account management, and customer recovery.
Windare Ventures managing partner Ori Ashkenazi said, “Identity isn’t a fixed file anymore. It’s a stream of behaviour. Heka does what most AI can’t: it actually works in the wild, delivering signals banks can use seamlessly in workflows.”
Barclays head of US principal investments Kester Keating added, “Heka’s offering stood out for its ability to address a critical need in financial services – helping institutions make faster, smarter decisions using trustworthy external data. We’re proud to support their continued growth as they scale in the U.S.”
Co-founder and CEO Idan Bar-Dov said, “The credit bureaus were built for another era. Today, both consumers and risk live online. Heka’s mission is to be the default source of truth for this new digital reality – always-on, accurate, and explainable.”
The company’s founding team brings deep expertise across finance, intelligence, and law. Berber formerly led global equity trading at Merrill Lynch, while Horowitz served in the Israeli intelligence community and Bar-Dov is an experienced fintech lawyer. The broader team includes fraud and compliance specialists, data scientists, and intelligence analysts.
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