AI tech startup ComplyAdvantage nabs US$50m in Series C funding

LONDON-BASED ComplyAdvantage, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to fight financial crime, has bagged US$50 million in Series C funding.

The UK startup - which has a hub in Singapore - will use the investment towards rapid product and market expansion across the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, it said on Wednesday.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board led the Series C funding round, with existing investors Index Ventures and Balderton Capital also participating in the round.

ComplyAdvantage uses machine learning and natural language processing to help regulated organisations manage their risk obligations and prevent financial crime.

Its database is derived from millions of data points that provide dynamic, real-time insights across sanctions, watch lists, politically exposed persons and negative news. This reduces dependence on manual review processes and legacy databases by up to 80 per cent and improves how companies screen and monitor clients and transactions, the startup said.

ComplyAdvantage has four global hubs, one of which is located in Singapore. The other hubs are in New York, London and Cluj-Napoca in Romania.

The startup works with banks, enterprises and high-growth fintechs, with more than 500 enterprises in 75 countries relying on its database.

Lead investor Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan. Headquartered in Toronto, the fully-funded, defined-benefit plan invests and administers the pensions of Ontario's 329,000 active and retired teachers.