New chairman appointed at leading biometrics company to support global expansion

FARx, the world’s only AI-fused biometrics company, has appointed former BT executive and Cambridge technology leader Chris Bruce as Chairman, as the business prepares for its next phase of UK and international growth.

The move comes after FARx recently secured £625,000 in seed funding through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) with plans to expand its patented biometric authentication technology into global markets.

Chris has more than 20 years’ international experience leading and scaling technology businesses at BT Group. As CEO of BT Openzone Wi-Fi, he delivered connectivity across the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also oversaw the launch of Capital Wi-Fi, which expanded to more than 500,000 hotspots across London.

He has worked extensively in Europe, US and Asia launching global services to enterprise customers, including the commercial launch of Telfort Mobile in the Netherlands, and spent a decade serving on the board of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), helping shape the global adoption of next-generation Wi-Fi technologies.

Beyond BT, Chris is a highly respected figure within the Cambridge Deep Tech ecosystem, serving as a non-executive board director at Cambridge Wireless, one of the UK’s leading technology communities, and led the launch of Cambridge Tech Week in 2023 as Chair of the Steering Committee.

His appointment brings commercial leadership experience to FARx at a time when organisations worldwide are seeking more effective ways to combat identity fraud, deepfakes and AI-enabled cyber threats.

Recent research from Thales found that 59% of organisations have already experienced a deepfake-related attack, highlighting the growing scale of the challenge facing businesses worldwide.

Founded by a team with more than 30 years of biometrics expertise, FARx has developed a next-generation multi-factor authentication platform that, for the first time, fuses speaker, speech and facial recognition into a single solution.

Patented in both the UK and US, the technology represents a new approach to identity security with plans to expand into North America, Latin America and APAC.

Unlike traditional voice authentication systems, FARx’s platform can identify not only what is being said, but who is saying it, helping organisations detect and prevent attempts to spoof identities using synthetic voices, deepfake technology and recorded audio or video. Powered by proprietary AI and machine learning algorithms, the platform continuously learns and adapts to users, identifying subtle behavioural and biometric anomalies that may suggest fraudulent activity.

Earlier this year, the company also appointed experienced technology sales leader Clive Busby as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, as part of its continued investment in its leadership team.

Clive Summerfield, CEO of FARx, said: “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.”

Bruce added: “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.”