AVIEL Intelligence secures £350K Pre-Seed to combat UK’s surge in financial scams

AVIEL Intelligence, a UK-based startup founded by former Google employees and cybersecurity experts, has emerged from stealth mode with a £350,000 Pre-Seed.

The investment round is led by Fuel Ventures. Additional backing comes from Cambridge Angels and a range of angel investors.

The UK has witnessed a significant rise in financial scams, with losses from Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud reaching nearly £500M in the past year. In response, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced new rules in October 2024 requiring over 1,100 Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to reimburse victims of APP fraud, shifting liability from consumers to financial institutions .​

AVIEL Intelligence aims to address this challenge by providing actionable intelligence to banks and PSPs, enabling them to prevent scams before they occur. The company’s proprietary intelligence engine is already live, actively identifying scam networks and allowing PSPs to take real-time action to block fraud.​

AVIEL’s unique approach involves creating AI personas that interact with scammers through digital platforms. As conversations move to encrypted environments like WhatsApp, these AI personas extract information from the scammer, providing receiving banks with critical insights into which accounts are being used in scams. This proactive strategy enables banks to understand and mitigate fraud risks more effectively.​ Joe Tallett, Co-Founder and CEO of AVIEL Intelligence, expressed enthusiasm about the funding round, stating, “We couldn’t be more excited about closing our funding round and ramping up our anti-scam activities. With Fuel Ventures supporting our vision and providing the backbone of our funding round, AVIEL can accelerate fast.”​

Fuel Ventures, known for its focus on early-stage tech companies, has invested over £370 million in more than 180 startups . Mark Pearson, Founder of Fuel Ventures, highlighted AVIEL’s unique approach to scam prevention, stating, “AVIEL is tackling one of the biggest challenges facing banks and payment service providers today. The team has found a completely unique angle – using intelligence, not just analytics, to stop scams at the source. Their approach is bold, focused and scalable, and we’re excited to back them at this critical stage.”​

The investment will support AVIEL’s growth, including expansion across the UK and internationally, and continued product development. Key priorities include increasing the speed and accuracy of scam detection, expanding the scope of scams covered, and scaling up intelligence delivery.​

With the financial services industry under increasing pressure to prevent fraud and protect consumers, AVIEL Intelligence’s innovative approach positions it as a potential leader in the fight against financial scams.​