November 07, 2018

Accenture Forms Strategic Alliance and Invests in Data Analytics Firm Quantexa

Accenture Ventures-led agreement extends Accenture’s artificial intelligence and network analytics capabilities, will help banks fight financial crime

LONDON; Nov. 7, 2018 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has invested in and formed a strategic alliance with Quantexa, a leading data analytics firm that provides technology solutions to uncover new intelligence.

The minority investment made by Accenture Ventures will help Quantexa accelerate the development of its AI-powered entity resolution and network analytics technology working with Accenture Applied Intelligence. The new collaboration will help clients uncover new actionable insights across multiple industry use cases including fighting financial crime.

As part of the alliance agreement, Accenture plans to build new capabilities that combine its technology and risk expertise with Quantexa’s network analytics platform. The collaboration aims to develop multiple AI-enabled solutions addressing business challenges in areas including anti-money laundering, credit risk and customer insight.

In addition, Accenture’s Financial Crime Analytics Utility, a data analytics-as-a-service platform, will help train and refine Quantexa’s dynamic network analytics models, allowing them to continuously adapt to emerging threats.

“Accenture is committed to employing innovative techniques to help our clients tackle complex issues such as money laundering,” said Adam Markson, managing director, Accenture Finance & Risk Services. “By investing in Quantexa and combining our expertise, we are equipping our clients with new technologies and approaches to solving the most pressing data issues. Furthermore, the strategic alliance further enhances our Financial Crime Analytics Utility, which will help prevent the movement of illicit funds that enable real world issues, including human trafficking and drug crime.”

Headquartered in London, Quantexa empowers organisations to drive better decisions from their data. Using leading advancements in big data and AI, Quantexa can uncover hidden customer connections and behaviours to help solve major challenges in financial crime, customer insight and data analytics. Quantexa has helped businesses use its technology to spot potential money-laundering activity by analysing internal, publicly available, and transactional data within a customer’s wider network.

Vishal Marria, CEO of Quantexa, said, “We are delighted to be working with Accenture to deliver and scale our technology to help solve our clients’ biggest data challenges. Creating context is critical in investigations to help clients connect the dots in their data, allowing them to see the complete picture and make better decisions.”

Quantexa is the latest addition to the investment portfolio of Accenture Ventures, which focuses on teaming with and investing in companies that create or apply innovative enterprise technologies. Through extensive relationships with startups, entrepreneurs, investors, academics, venture capitalists and corporate R&D groups around the world, Accenture Ventures invests in, and teams with, promising sources of innovation in the market.

For more information on new tools to combat financial crime, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcUGm6DE-eQ.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 459,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About Quantexa
Quantexa enables companies and institutions to make better decisions from their data. Quantexa’s revolutionary technology is based on the latest developments in big data software and uses real-time entity resolution with network analytics and AI to knit together vast and disparate data sets and derive actionable intelligence. They are led by a team of experts with a collective experience of over a century in advanced analytics and data focused solutions. They are headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Brussels and Sydney.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which Accenture competes are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture could have liability or Accenture’s reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; Accenture might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; Accenture’s Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to Accenture’s relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company’s results of operations; Accenture’s services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if Accenture is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture’s contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; Accenture’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.

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Contact:

Michael McGinn
Accenture
+1 917 452 9458
m.mcginn@accenture.com

Thomas Fairey
Quantexa
+44 7826 068 290
tomfairey@quantexa.com