Fivecast
Adelaide (Kaurna), South Australia.
Australian Export Awards benchmark success
We encourage other exporters to apply. The awards offer invaluable recognition and opportunities for growth and networking.
Dr Brenton Cooper, Fivecast Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Advanced Technologies winner – Fivecast.
Fivecast lights the dark for the global intelligence industry
21 November 2024
The multitude of data available at our fingertips today presents unprecedented opportunity. It also creates unprecedented risk.
Fivecast was born to address the rising global data challenge using open-source intelligence (OSINT) technology.
The Adelaide-based company seamlessly blends intelligence heritage and proprietary data collection technology with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. This cutting-edge combination empowers customers across the world to swiftly identify threats across vast amounts of digital data.
Eyes everywhere
Over the past 3 years Fivecast has expanded its customer base. This includes agencies across the Five Eyes Governments at all levels. The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
The company has also secured its first EU customer in Spain and established a strong foundation in the US corporate security market. Growth has been impressive, with an annual revenue of more than 70% forecast for the current financial year.
Success in the US
In 2021, Fivecast’s exports to the US market surpassed the APAC market. This led to rapid expansion, an office in Washington DC, and entry into the financial intelligence and insurance markets. In the past year, the US operations achieved significant growth in annual recurring revenue.
‘Our US team has been instrumental in driving business development, customer success, and brand awareness across the region,’ says Dr Brenton Cooper, Fivecast’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. ‘This expansion has not only funded our core business functions but also created high-tech jobs back in Adelaide.’
Venture capital investment drives growth in the UK
In 2023, Fivecast raised US$20 million (A$30 million) in Series A funding, led by a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm.
‘This investment fostered the establishment of our London office,’ says Cooper. ‘The office now employs 8 people and drives revenue in the UK and Europe.’
Expansion in this market will target UK Government intelligence agencies and policing, as well as UK-based banking and insurance organisations. Fivecast’s service will address a range of use cases including violent extremism, fraud, money laundering and security vetting.
Pioneering AI transforms risk assessment
The core focus of Fivecast’s current R&D is leveraging the power of generative AI to enhance how customers evaluate risk. Traditional manual methods are time-consuming, prone to human error, and lack consistency in decision-making.
Fivecast’s unique “adjudicative factors” capability utilises a large generative language model. It offers sophisticated AI models that can use predefined criteria to assess the risks present in data sets. This enables essential data insights to be uncovered exponentially faster than with manual methods.
‘This innovative approach enables quick and efficient data assessment, identifying potential breaches and flagging them to an analyst,’ says Cooper. ‘It’s applicable to a range of customer use cases including security vetting, due diligence processes, border security and more.’
Discovery empowers intelligence analysts to quickly uncover digital footprints, resolve online identities, and verify information across a broad range of data sources.
A process of discovery
In 2024, Fivecast launched a new solution to market. Fivecast ONYX Discovery increases the efficiency and speed of the important ‘discovery’ phase of an intelligence investigation.
‘Discovery empowers intelligence analysts to quickly uncover digital footprints, resolve online identities, and verify information across a broad range of data sources,’ says Cooper. ‘This launch will aid our penetration into the financial intelligence and insurance sectors.’
A multi-faceted marketing strategy
Fivecast’s global marketing strategy leverages various channels to promote the brand and generate leads.
‘A key component of our export marketing success is our Community of Interest events held in each region,’ says Cooper. ‘These events feature keynote speakers, demos and panel sessions on intelligence topics important to our customers.’
Fivecast has also invested in creating a library of thought leadership content. This is promoted across its channels to educate the market on applying the latest OSINT technology to address important societal challenges.
Australian Export Awards benchmark success against industry leaders
Fivecast is the winner of the Advanced Technologies award category at this year’s Australian Export Awards. It won in the same category in 2022 and was also recognised as a finalist in 2021.
‘We apply to the Australian Export Awards to gain recognition for our achievements in delivering cutting-edge intelligence solutions and to benchmark our success against industry leaders,’ says Cooper. ‘We encourage other exporters to apply. The awards offer invaluable recognition and opportunities for growth and networking.’
Expansion enables a safer world
Fivecast’s current expansion focuses on the UK, the EU and Middle East. ‘Our biggest challenge is penetrating the large number of countries in Europe and their language barriers,’ says Cooper. ‘We are overcoming this challenge by developing a strong partner network across Europe.’
Its next target market is Southeast Asia, due to rapid economic growth and increasing demand for tech solutions in the region. With expansion, Fivecast continues to deliver social impact. ‘Our mission drives everything we do,’ says Cooper. ‘Enabling a safer world will be our legacy.’
Visit Fivecast website.
Advanced Technologies winner – Fivecast. For the full transcript please visit the Advanced Technologies Award 2024 - Fivecast video on YouTube.
