OREANDA-NEWS. Gate Ventures Plc has led a 'Series A' bridging round for Ensygnia, the leading provider of secure and frictionless mobile payment solutions, in which it made a strategic investment of £500,000 for an 8.54% stake.

Other significant investors in the funding round include prominent US FinTech Accelerator and venture fund, SixThirty. SixThirty's founder Jim McKelvey, is also a co-founder of Square, the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) quoted electronic payment services company.

Ensygnia is a UK-based technology company specialising in identity management, mobile payments, and cybersecurity. It launched its primary product Onescan, a transaction and identity management platform, in March 2014.

As approved in its EGM on 27 August 2015, Gate Ventures has extended its investment policy to include e-commerce, fashion retail, consultancy and operational projects. The investment represents significant opportunities for Gate to not only benefit from the expected increase in Onescan's customer base, but also to access the significant online e-commerce retail network of Onescan, a sector that Gate Ventures is keen to focus on. Gate will also explore the option of adapting Onescan's platform to make it compatible with websites where content produced and distributed by Gate's current and potential investee companies will be viewed.

As part of the investment agreement, the Company and Ensygnia has agreed to set up a Joint Venture ("JV") in China where Gate Ventures will possess an 80% and Ensygnia 20% of the JV. The JV will facilitate Onescan's expansion in China through leveraging Gate Venture's existing network. In addition, Richard Carter, Chief Financial Officer of Gate Ventures, has been appointed a Non-Executive Director of Ensygnia with immediate effect.

Onescan is a cloud-based (SaaS) secure transaction platform with a stand-alone mobile application that can be downloaded by consumers, or be incorporated into retailers existing mobile applications. The platform authenticates each transaction through a customer PIN and an encrypted and verifiable QR code (2D barcode) generated and distributed by the Onescan platform on individual merchants' websites, which could be scanned by individual Onescan mobile app users through their mobile camera lens.

Onescan significantly simplifies the payment process, whilst its identity management system ensures that payments are secure. Customer data is encrypted and the application can only be accessed through individual customers' phones. Onescan has been granted five UK patents on this technology and has applied for patents to be granted in a further 20 jurisdictions.

Ensygnia's customers include Visa Europe, PlayJam, O2, Waitrose, and BBC Worldwide. Ensygnia is the start-up in residence at BBC Worldwide and is collaborating with BBC Worldwide on a number of initiatives including the online BBC Shop, which currently has around 4 million users per annum, and its new flagship product BBC Store.

Dr Johnny Hon, Chairman of Gate Ventures PLC, said:

"The Board of Gate is very excited to make our first investment in the e-commerce space through Ensygnia. We believe that Ensygnia's Onescan technology is a game changer as its platform can be easily adapted unlike many others in the market, which puts Ensygnia in a great position. Ensygnia has won important accounts for Onescan since its launch in March 2014, including the recent contract with BBC Worldwide, and we are confident that the customer base of Onescan will continue to grow. Gate Ventures will work closely with Ensygnia to promote Onescan, in order to effectively capitalise on the high growth online payments market."

Ensygnia

Ensygnia is the company behind the breakthrough Onescan secure mobile transaction platform and its patented process for the confidential exchange of personal and financial information.

Onescan is a cloud-based (SaaS) secure transaction platform with a stand-alone mobile application that can be downloaded by consumers, or be incorporated into retailers existing mobile applications. The platform authenticates each transaction through a customer PIN and an encrypted and verifiable QR code (2D barcode) generated and distributed by the Onescan platform on individual merchants' websites, which could be scanned by individual Onescan mobile app users through their mobile camera lens.

The customer PIN could be upgraded by the Onescan user to take advantage of biometric technology, such as a fingerprint scan, if that is available on the user's mobile phone. The QR Codes can be displayed online on websites for basket level checkout as well as next to individual product pages. The technology can also be used to enable identity-based payment transactions through the secure Onescan platform in-stores on point of sale (POS) terminals, PIN Entry Devices, Digital Signage and on other POS material.

Patented by Ensygnia since 2010, OneScan is the world's first true omnichannel payment platform that provides secure instant payment transactions online, in-store and through email, direct-mail, catalogues, mobile apps, digital screens and mobile & web advertising.

Onescan's unique process delivers a PCI Level 1 certified encrypted environment; enabling the safe, confidential exchange of personal, business, or financial information and credentials over its bank-grade secure mobile transaction platform with full compliance.

Gate Ventures Plc

The Company was formed to make investments and capitalise on investment opportunities in the media and entertainment sectors. Since the formation of the Company, the Board has requested shareholder approval to expand its business strategy to include the fashion retail sector, the television element of the media and entertainment sectors, e-commerce as well as consultancy and operational activities. The proposal was approved by its investors in its EGM on 27 August 2015. The Board believes the expansion of the Company's business strategy will add significant shareholder value. The Company intends to focus on investment and operational opportunities primarily in the UK and China, however other territories will also be considered as opportunities arise.