Feedzai – AI-powered fraud detection
The Portuguese startup is now helping Europe guard its digital currency.
Feedzai is a fraud prevention company based in Coimbra.
If you've ever made an online payment that felt instant and safe, there's a chance this team had something to do with it. Their platform already monitors over $70 billion in payments annually across banks and fintechs worldwide.
Now, the European Central Bank has chosen Feedzai (together with PwC) to help protect the digital euro, a new kind of money being designed for all of Europe. Their job? Use artificial intelligence to score every transaction for fraud. That contract could be worth over €237 million.
At the same time, Feedzai also raised $75 million in new funding at a valuation of more than $2 billion.
But the part I keep thinking about is this: Feedzai was started in 2011 with the mission to keep commerce safe by three engineers who were told no a lot in the early days. They stuck with it. They built real, working systems. It's deep tech, invisible infrastructure. The kind that earns trust. One of the co-founders, Pedro Bizarro, still teaches at the University of Coimbra. That mix of research and real-world application runs deep in their DNA.
I first read about Feedzai in Ana Pimentel's Unicórnios Portugueses, a book I picked up after moving to Portugal to build my own startup. Seeing this company go from a classroom idea to guarding Europe's money, it's the kind of story that makes you sit up straighter.
Every day at FinBox Solutions, we feature one fintech project we think is worth your time. The one with the most votes becomes Fintech of the Week.
Last week's post about Feedzai broke our voting record.
The crowd spoke loudly. And could well be Fintech of the Year 2025.
What does it take to build real infrastructure in fintech?
Feedzai might have the answer. But I'd love to hear yours.
👇 Drop your thoughts, and
Photo credit: Jornal Económico (Portugal)
#FintechOfTheWeek #fraudprevention #AI #Portugal #Feedzai
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