Sberbank, Gazprombank and Digital Horizon invest in biometric future
Russian giant Sberbank has agreed a deal with investment company Digital Horizon to boost Russian biometric tech developer Speech Technology Centre (STC), Jane Connolly reports.
“A logical step on the road to digital transformation”
As per the deal, Sberbank will acquire a 51% stake in from Gazprombank, which will remain a strategic shareholder.
The deal, due to close at the end of May, will also see Digital Horizon venture capital fund acquire a stake in STC, which develops voice and facial biometric systems and professional data processing and machine learning solutions.
Sberbank will chair the new board of directors at STC, comprising four Sberbank representatives, two from Gazprombank and one from Digital Horizon.
“For Sberbank, this deal is a logical step on the road to digital transformation and the construction of a biometric platform for the bank’s growing ecosystem,” says Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the executive board of Sberbank.
He adds: “In the future we will use this platform to create a range of services that will take interaction with clients to a completely new level in terms of ease and information security. In turn, Sberbank’s expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and big data will help STC broaden the use of speech technology in Russia, bringing Russian technology to foreign markets and help the company compete for global leadership.”
Alan Vaksman, co-founder of Digital Horizon, calls the deal “historic” for both the development of biometrics and the Russian venture industry.
