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Based in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional office presence in São Paulo, Brazil, Cignifi operates a credit and marketing analytics platform that utilizes mobile phone behavioral data to generate alternative scores for underserved consumers and small and medium enterprises. The company provides financial inclusion solutions, including airtime credit, cash loans, and handset finance, to mobile operators, retailers, and traditional financial services providers. Cignifi recently partnered with Quod to launch an online platform combining telecommunications data with machine learning to deliver credit and fraud insights across emerging markets. Operating with a dedicated team of 25 employees, the enterprise has raised $13.8 million in total venture capital funding and features industry figures like Larry Rosenberger, Stewart Langdon, and Arjuna Costa as corporate officers. Formerly known as GMH International, Cignifi was founded in 2010 by Jonathan Hakim.
Cignifi has raised $11.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Cignifi has raised $11.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Cignifi has raised $11.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Cignifi's investors include Endeavor Catalyst, Flourish Ventures, Richmond Global Ventures, Ed Baker, Florian Otto, Mark Goines, Amara VC.
Cignifi has raised $11.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Series D in July 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2018 | $4M Series D | — | Endeavor Catalyst, Flourish Ventures, Richmond Global Ventures, ED Baker, Florian Otto, Mark Goines | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2014 | $5M Series B | — | Amara VC, Endeavor Catalyst, Flourish Ventures, Richmond Global Ventures, ED Baker, Florian Otto, Mark Goines | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2012 | $2M Series A | — | Endeavor Catalyst, Flourish Ventures, Richmond Global Ventures, ED Baker, Florian Otto, Mark Goines | Announced |
Cignifi is a FinTech company founded in 2010 that builds the Maxymus platform, a pioneering digital acquisition and scoring tool leveraging mobile phone behavior data for credit risk assessment, marketing scores, and fraud detection.[1][2][3] It primarily serves banks, insurers, telecom operators, retailers, lenders, and e-commerce merchants in emerging markets, addressing the challenge of underwriting over two billion underserved consumers lacking traditional credit histories by enabling access to financial products like loans, airtime credit, and handset finance.[1][2][5][6] With around 25-50 employees, $13.8M in total funding from investors including Flourish Ventures, LeapFrog Investments, Omidyar Network, and American Express Ventures, and revenue under $5M, Cignifi demonstrates steady growth in financial inclusion, including partnerships like one with Brazil's Quod for AI-driven insights.[1][2][3][4]
Cignifi was founded in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (with operations noted in São Paulo, Brazil), initially as GMH International, by a team including Jonathan Hakim, focusing on big data analytics for financial services.[1][3][4] The idea emerged from recognizing that over 80% of global adults own mobile phones but lack formal financial access, leading to the development of the first platform using mobile usage patterns for credit and marketing scores.[2][4][6] Early traction came from partnerships with global mobile operators and investors, unlocking millions of new customers for lenders; pivotal moments include raising multiple funding rounds totaling $13.8M and collaborations like the 2018 Quod partnership in Brazil to launch telecom-data-based credit platforms.[1][3]
Cignifi rides the financial inclusion wave in emerging markets, where mobile penetration outpaces banking access, fueled by trends in alternative data, AI-driven scoring, and big data for the unbanked.[2][7] Timing aligns with post-2010 smartphone booms and regulatory pushes for inclusive credit (e.g., Brazil's fintech ecosystem), amplified by investor focus from Omidyar and LeapFrog on prosperity in Africa/Asia.[1][3] Market forces like rising digital lending and telecom data availability favor it, reducing fraud while expanding ecosystems—e.g., enabling SMEs and consumers via Quod-like platforms, influencing broader adoption of behavioral data in global FinTech.[3][5]
Cignifi is poised to expand its AI-enhanced platform amid surging demand for alternative credit data, potentially deepening telecom-finance integrations and entering new emerging markets. Trends like real-time fraud detection and positive scoring will shape its path, evolving its influence from niche scorer to ecosystem enabler for billions in underserved finance—building on its foundational mobile data edge to drive sustained inclusion.[3][7] This positions Cignifi as a quiet powerhouse in unlocking economic potential where traditional systems fall short.
