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Press release

5iveHead raises £14 million Series A to bring portrait optimisation to every professional

Funding will accelerate 5iveHead Live and the 5iveHead Enterprise platform.

For immediate release · London, 14 October 2026

5iveHead Technologies Ltd., the portrait optimisation service used by more than 2.4 million people, today announced a £14 million Series A funding round led by Calloway Dunmore Partners, with participation from Northbridge Ventures and a group of angel investors.

The funding will be used to expand 5iveHead Live, the company's real-time video product, to scale the 5iveHead Enterprise platform, and to grow its research team.

“Every professional has a portrait. Until now, almost none of them were optimised. We think that is about to change.”Benedict J. Ellerby, Founder and CEO, 5iveHead

5iveHead is used for passports, staff passes, professional profiles and speaker biographies. The company's 5iveHead Score, a measure of portrait composition, has been adopted by organisations including Harlow & Pryce Logistics, which recently standardised 4,200 staff passes in nine days.

“5iveHead has built something that people use once and then don't go back,” said a partner at Calloway Dunmore Partners. “The retention is remarkable.”

The 5iveHead leadership team following the Series A announcement.
The 5iveHead leadership team following the Series A announcement.

Key facts

  • More than 2.4 million portraits optimised
  • Rated 4.9 out of 5 by users
  • Used in 61 countries
  • Portraits are processed entirely on the user's device

About 5iveHead

5iveHead is a portrait optimisation service used by professionals, organisations and individuals to present their best face for passports, professional profiles and more. The company is headquartered in London. Learn more at 5ivehead.com.

Media contact

press@5ivehead.com

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Privacy policy

Last updated 1 October 2026

Your portrait stays on your device

5iveHead processes your photo in your web browser. Your portrait is not uploaded to our servers, is not stored by us and is not shared with anyone.

What we collect

This website does not use cookies or analytics, and we do not ask you to create an account. If you join a waiting list, we will store the email address you provide for the sole purpose of contacting you about 5iveHead.

Third-party services

To detect faces, your browser downloads a model file from Google and a code library from jsDelivr when you use the tool. These requests do not include your photo.

Contact

privacy@5ivehead.com

Terms of service

Last updated 1 October 2026

Using 5iveHead

You may only upload portraits of yourself, or of people who have agreed to their use. You are responsible for how you use the images you create.

Official documents

5iveHead is not a government service and is not affiliated with any passport, visa or licensing authority. We do not guarantee that any authority will accept an optimised portrait. Please check the photo requirements of the issuing authority before you submit one.

Ratings and metrics

Composition uplift and 5iveHead Score are 5iveHead's own measures and are provided for information only. Results may vary.

Intellectual property

5iveHead and the 5iveHead logo are trademarks of 5iveHead Technologies Ltd. The 5iveHead portrait optimisation method is patent pending.

Liability

5iveHead is provided as is. To the extent the law allows, 5iveHead Technologies Ltd. is not liable for any loss arising from your use of the service.

Changelog

What's new in 5iveHead

4.4.021 October 2026

Browser extension 1.1 adds support for video calls in Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex.

4.3.020 October 2026

Introducing 5iveHead Live (preview), certificates with public verification, profession benchmarks and one-tap sharing. Improved portrait stability.

4.2.114 October 2026

Improved portrait consistency across all enhancement levels.

4.2.029 September 2026

Boardroom enhancement level now available on Executive plans.

4.1.311 September 2026

Fixed an issue where 5iveHead Score could exceed 100 under certain lighting conditions.

4.1.018 August 2026

Faster optimisation for portraits taken in good light.

4.0.02 June 2026

Introduced the 5iveHead Professional Standard.

System status

5iveHead service health

All systems operational

Portrait optimisation · 99.98% uptime

90 days agoToday

Past incidents

Degraded performance8 August 2026

Some portraits were optimised to a lower standard than expected. Resolved.

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Accounts are available to subscribersSign-in is currently open to Professional, Executive and Enterprise customers. To request access, choose a plan.