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Signifyd’s Belfast R&D center means better ecommerce experiences

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Signifyd’s new R&D center will enhance the reputation and capability of Belfast’s already heralded technology scene by bringing a diverse range of tech jobs to the city, the head of Invest Northern Ireland said on Monday.

Invest NI CEO Alastair Hamilton was at the research and development center in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter to formally welcome the company on behalf the Northern Irish government’s economic development arm. He noted that Signifyd’s plan to hire at least 150 software engineers, data scientists, risk experts, fraud analysts, customer success specialists and support staff at an average salary £30,000 will add £5 million in payroll alone to the economy annually.

Signifyd, which helps retailers provide friction-free commerce without the fear of fraud, will benefit from a rich talent pool and a location closer to its growing number of European customers.

Signifyd is building a world-class team in Belfast

“We are based right here in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and look forward to building a world-class team to lead our innovation and help our customers provide the kind of shopping experiences today’s consumers expect,” Signifyd Co-Founder and CEO Raj Ramanand said, according to The Irish Times.

A few hours later, Ramanand addressed a company-wide meeting from the Belfast center.

“It’s been an exciting day,” he told employees in Belfast and others via teleconference.

Belfast, Ramanand noted, provides the right mix of talent and and inspiration to foster innovation.

“It’s about product and engineering — at the end of the day, how do you build a culture where people want to build something?” he told the BBC. “Surprisingly, if you look around the world, there aren’t that many places that have that. Silicon Valley has that. Belfast has that. We thought the combination of those two would be very interesting for us.”

The opening of the R&D center is part of a broader acceleration of Signifyd’s innovation. Just last week it introduced two new leaders to help guide the company’s vision in terms of product and data science. The moves were cited as a way for Signifyd to maintain its position as a market leader with more than 250 million consumers around the world transacting within the Signifyd Commerce Network and on a course to exceed $100 billion in annual GMV processed in 2019.

Continuing to Push the Boundaries of What’s Possible

In a news release announcing his hiring, Prasad Gune, senior vice president in charge of product, noted that Signifyd had already extended the guaranteed fraud protection category to meet the needs of enterprise retailers. “And in the next few years, we are going to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible.”

Signifyd uses big data, machine learning and domain expertise to allow merchants to grow with confidence. Among its offerings is Fraud Protection, which nearly instantaneously determines whether an order is fraudulent or legitimate. The model helps merchants offer friction-free buying experiences by ensuring that orders aren’t delayed by cumbersome reviews and that legitimate orders aren’t canceled for fear of fraud.

The Belfast R&D center will support Signifyd’s accelerating innovation efforts around the world while it places key technical talent in a location that provides further insights into the various fraud challenges that arise in different regions globally.

Trevor McCullough, director of engineering at Signifyd’s R&D center, said executing on the center’s mission will require aggressive hiring.

“This is the kind of opportunity,” he said, “that those passionate about technology live for.”

Photo courtesy of River House

Mike Cassidy

Mike Cassidy

Mike is the head of storytelling at Signifyd. A former journalist and a retail geek, he covers ecommerce and the way technology is transforming digital commerce. Contact him at [email protected].