Fraud-protection fintech firm Vesta has secured a strategic investment from EDBI, the Economic Development Board's corporate investment arm, to help power its plans for growth in the region, the companies said in a joint announcement yesterday.

Vesta, which will locate its regional headquarters in Singapore, said the funding, along with a strategic alignment with EDBI, will accelerate the company's push to expand its fraud and approval enhancement platform across the Asia-Pacific (Apac). The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

Vesta also recently raised US$125 million (S$172 million) in new growth capital from private equity firm Goldfinch Partners to help fund its growth globally.

Founded in 1995 in the United States, Vesta said it enables companies to grow their online businesses by eliminating the fear of fraud. Its platform, built on data science and machine learning, analyses customers' online payment transactions to assess the risk of fraud.

As growth in e-commerce accelerates in the region, fraud poses a challenge for organisations, said Vesta. "Apac is a region that has an immediate need for our firm's solutions and it was a natural choice to make Singapore our regional headquarters," said Mr Shabab Muhaddes, Vesta's general manager for Asia-Pacific.