Seven-figure funding boost for counterfeit-tackling tech firm SnapDragon

Online brand protection business SnapDragon Monitoring has raised £1.2 million in its latest funding round – and announced senior hires.

The latest funding – from ACF Investors, Mercia, and Scottish Enterprise – brings the total it has raised to just over £3m. The sum will be used to develop the technology and artificial intelligence/machine learning to further extend capabilities, to scale the infrastructure, and to continue to build the team to help an expanding base of global clients fight fakes and online threats.

SnapDragon’s Swoop platform searches for copies and counterfeits of products and brands so that they can be removed from sale, and current clients include soft drinks firm AG BARR, US baby brand 4moms, Australian baby and toddler product firm B.box, UK-based optical company Bondeye, and global make-up brush cleaner and dryer specialist StylPro, created by former Apprentice contestant Tom Pellereau.

The Scottish tech firm, which has grown headcount by 25 per cent in the last 12 months to support a growing client portfolio, has also appointed Geraldine Kelly as non-executive chair and Angela Brown as finance director.

'We are hugely proud of everything the team has achieved to date,' says founder and head dragon Rachel Jones. Picture: Angus Bremner.

Rachel Jones, SnapDragon’s founder and “head dragon”, said: “Sometimes out of adversity comes opportunity, and SnapDragon is testament to that. We are helping brands to remove fakes from sale online: protecting revenues, reputations and, most importantly, the end consumer.

“We are delighted to welcome Geraldine and Angela to SnapDragon. We are pleased to have successfully raised additional funding to enable further business development and growth. We are a female-led business, bucking the trend in terms of raising investment and being in the tech space – and delivering outstanding results to protect brands around the world.

"We are hugely proud of everything the team has achieved to date, not least preventing over £100m of fake goods being sold in the last 12 months, and look forward to future growth and success.”

Tim Mills, managing partner of ACF Investors, said: “SnapDragon Monitoring is tackling a global counterfeit problem head on by safeguarding and protecting brands of all sizes from online threats and infringements, and we are delighted to support the company through its next phase of growth. The company has also been able to capitalise on the thriving Scottish tech scene, with access to an international workforce shown in its rapidly growing team.”

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