FARx appoints ex-BT executive as Chairman for expansion

FARx has appointed former BT executive Chris Bruce as chairman as the biometrics company pursues international expansion.

The appointment follows FARx's recent £625,000 seed fundraising through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Enterprise Investment Scheme, which will support plans to take its biometric authentication technology into overseas markets.

Bruce spent more than 20 years at BT Group, holding senior roles in technology businesses in the UK and abroad. He led BT Openzone Wi-Fi, which provided connectivity across the London 2012 Olympic Games, and oversaw the launch of Capital Wi-Fi, a network that expanded to more than 500,000 hotspots across London.

His international experience also spans Europe, the US and Asia. He was involved in the commercial launch of Telfort Mobile in the Netherlands and served for a decade on the board of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Outside BT, Bruce has held roles in the Cambridge technology sector. He is a non-executive board director at Cambridge Wireless and chaired the steering committee that launched Cambridge Tech Week in 2023.

FARx is seeking to grow as concerns rise over identity fraud and AI-generated deception. Research it cited from Thales found that 59% of organisations have already experienced a deepfake-related attack.

Leadership push

The chair appointment is part of a broader senior team build-out. Earlier this year, the company appointed technology sales executive Clive Busby as vice president of sales and marketing.

Founded in 2022 by a team with more than 30 years of biometrics experience, FARx has developed a multi-factor authentication platform that combines speaker, speech and facial recognition in one system. The technology is patented in the UK and the US.

The system is designed to verify both the content of speech and the identity of the speaker, aiming to detect attempts to use synthetic voices, deepfake tools and recorded media to impersonate users. The platform also adapts to users over time by analysing behavioural and biometric anomalies that may indicate fraud.

FARx is already operating in more than 40 banks worldwide and is working with technology partners across sectors including finance, retail, healthcare, education and gaming. Its expansion plans include North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Chief executive officer Clive Summerfield said Bruce's combination of executive leadership experience, board expertise and deep connections within the technology sector would be invaluable as FARx continues to scale.

"Chris's combination of executive leadership experience, board expertise and deep connections within the technology sector will be invaluable as we continue to scale the business. He has an exceptional track record of building and growing technology organisations, while his leadership within the Cambridge technology community demonstrates his ability to bring people, innovation and opportunity together. We look forward to working with him as we accelerate our growth and expand internationally," Summerfield said.

Bruce said FARx is entering a period of growth.

"I am delighted to be joining FARx as chairman at a time of strong momentum for the business. The company's technology addresses one of the most critical challenges facing organisations today: how to securely verify identity in an era increasingly shaped by AI, deepfakes and sophisticated digital fraud. FARx has developed a genuinely innovative solution with significant global potential. I look forward to working with the team to accelerate growth, build strategic partnerships and help drive the company's ambitious vision," he said.