In collaboration with MultiKol
As technology advances, so do the frauds that exploit it. Deepfakes have become one of these threats, especially voice scams that can cause significant financial damage. This is where MultiKol comes in with its unique biometric voice recognition technology. In order to understand the potential solution to these threats, we spoke with Eddie Nevoani, co-founder and CEO of MultiKol, and Noam Band, chairman and mentor, serial entrepreneur and investor.
“I’ve worked at many tech companies and noticed that even high-tech professionals — the ones who should recognize fraud — were falling into the trap, and I said, 'Something is wrong,'” described Nevoani, the original inspiration behind the foundation of the company.
Studio interview on Ynet Global with Multikol
“When the OECD came up with regulation to move forward to biometrics, I said, 'Ok, this should solve the problem,' but it didn't. So I said, 'Something is not right.' We started checking what's wrong with biometrics, why it is not working as expected. After two years, we eventually came to the understanding that we should use voice as the biometric solution.”
How exactly does your technology work and what makes it different from other technologies?
“We chose voice because it’s the only biometric that’s dynamic,” said Nevoani. “I can ask you questions. If I’m unsure, I can ask again or request a specific phrase. I can ask you to say something. All other biometrics - like facial recognition, fingerprints, veins, etc - they are all static. It's like one picture. If you pass it, you're in. This is the first reason why we chose voice.
“Our solution actually digs deep. It checks your internal anatomy. So, for example, from your voice in the signature, we understand the structure of your throat, your jaw, your teeth. If you have a hoarse throat, you're coughing, it doesn't matter to us. It doesn't matter which language you are speaking. Of course, training on specific languages improves accuracy, but it’s not essential.”
Band described his role in shaping MultiKol strategy and vision: “It's a startup and like any other startup, they need mentoring in terms of strategic thinking, networking to investors and to others that are relevant to the entire ecosystem. I help the company with fundraising. I help the company not only with strategic thinking, but also to understand how to close deals, etc.”
And the protection from deepfake manipulations is a hot topic today.
Band: “Yes, it is. When we started, it was already a hot topic, but recently, with a lot of frauds already managed to overcome all the other barriers that are in the market, the need for our solution only increases.”
And speaking of hot issues, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently warned that AI-generated scam calls might soon sound more human than humans themselves. How does your technology help and address this threat?
Nevoani: “Actually, we recognized what Sam Altman said a few years ago. We saw it coming. When we started in 2019, it wasn't like that. But we said it will be more precise, and a day will come, and it will be much more precise. So we started working on that, we had so many algorithms, solutions, and eventually we had this ability. We also use AI, but it's a good AI to fight the bad AI. So we train our models to identify these negative AI models.”
You are also helping to restore trust, which is very important. Who are your main target audiences, main target customers? Are we talking about governments, financial institutions?
Nevoani: “Eventually, we are engaged in authentication, so we can go anywhere, but now we focus on fintech, mainly banks, financial services, etc.”
From an investor's perspective, what makes MultiKol an attractive investment right now?
Band: “As an investor, you always search for the next big thing, and right now, MultiKol is perfectly positioned for that. It's a small company, a good team, a very impressive team in terms of technology. The market is there. It's a huge market. It's only going to grow. So as an investor entering now to invest in a company like MultiKol, it is very attractive.”
You are currently running an investment campaign. Eddie, what are the key messages you would like to convey to potential investors?
Nevoani: “Well, the problem is here to stay, as Sam Altman said, there are many fraud attempts and they are succeeding. Most of the time, they are succeeding. They targeted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, they also try to access banks, bank accounts, etc.”
Noam, from your point of view, where do you see the company heading in the next two or three years?
Band: “I think that in the next two to three years, the company will be a part of one of the largest strategics. It's going to be either one of those great names that we know of, like Microsoft, Google, maybe Intel, maybe others. Dell needs this technology either embedded in their machines or in their services or in other places. The company focuses today on fintech, but it's also relevant for the automotive industry—you'll get into your car and you'll use voice commands to activate it.”
According to Nevoani, the technology developed by MultiKol can also protect consumers from phishing scams: “One of the solutions we are thinking about is B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer). The meaning is, for example, if I'm not sure that my son or my wife is calling me, the phone can identify them and tell me - this is not your wife, this is not your son - this is someone that might be a potential fraud.”
How do you envision MultiKol evolving three to five years from now?
Nevoani: “Currently, in each authentication process, you either have no access at all, if you're not authenticated, or get full access. We are trying to get something in the middle, for example, if you want to drive your car but maybe under the influence of drugs, medication, etc, we might say: ‘You know, you're not that sober, but you're not that drunk, you can have your speed limit, something like that. And it's dynamic, it goes up and down.”
In collaboration with MultiKol
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First published: 16:10, 08.03.25