ComplyAdvantage, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help firms manage compliance obligations and reduce costs, has completed a USD8.2 million series A funding round led by Balderton Capital.
The funding will allow the RegTech firm to realise its growth strategy and increase product penetration across Europe and North America, with the New York office officially opening this week.
ComplyAdvantage aims to provide proprietary, dynamic risk data with more efficient screening and monitoring technology. Some 200 clients globally rely on the company’s technology to reduce financial crime risk and take the pain out of regulatory compliance.
"In compliance, we see lots of entrants with a new workflow, or user-interface tool that is just repackaging the same data. ComplyAdvantage is doing something different, by developing its own proprietary global data set of individuals and companies that pose a threat,” says Tim Bunting (pictured), general partner, Balderton Capital. “We believe that this is one of the few remaining large industries that is still ripe for digital disruption. We are thrilled to be backing Charles and his team, they are well on their way to changing the way companies can understand and monitor risk around their clients. Their mission is truly exciting, and relevant to all businesses."
“Compliance is painful, slow and expensive,” says founder Charles Delingpole. “It is a huge overhead for firms and there is a massive opportunity to unlock this through technology. At one of my earlier businesses, I was the guy who would have gone to prison if we got compliance wrong, and I found it incredibly difficult to rapidly and safely assess the potential risk of my customers using the existing data and software on the market. To make matters worse, the tools generally generated a huge amount of manual work. So I decided to do something about it. This investment is testament to the incredible things the team has achieved so far and we look forward to taking our business to the next level with Balderton’s support and expertise.”
Using its dynamic proprietary database, which covers Sanctions and Watchlists, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), and global Adverse Media, the firm is able to create structured profiles of high risk individuals or companies and their associates based on the very latest data. Its AI screening and monitoring technology ensures better accuracy and also helps in cutting through the noise and reducing ‘false positives’ (incorrect risk alerts).
Chris Pilling, previously founder of Complinet, and former senior vice president of compliance and regulatory risk at Thomson Reuters, is now a strategic board adviser to, and investor in, ComplyAdvantage.
Pilling says: “I am delighted to be involved with Charles and the team. At a time when the industry is struggling to cope with the increasing burden of regulatory compliance, there has never been a greater need for radical innovation. By adopting the very latest technologies this firm is capable of delivering a solution that is markedly superior to anything I have seen on the market today.”
