Strise, a Norwegian anti-money laundering (AML) intelligence software vendor, is set to drive international expansion with startup in the UK after securing $10.8m in Series A funding.
The funding round was led by Atomico, a London-based venture capital firm, existing investors and business angels.
“This financial boost puts us in the perfect position to roll out our AML Intelligence System to the global arena and shake up the status quo, helping banks and regulated companies turn their AML processes from a manual burden to an automated winner!” Strise announced.
Analyze data in real time
The company, which launched commercially in 2019, has become a key player in the Nordic finance sector, where 70% of the region’s top-tier banks using its services.
Customers include major Nordic banks such as Nordea, Handelsbanken, US-based law firm Orrick and global professional services company EY in the UK, plus Vipps MobilePay, one of Europe’s largest bank-owned mobile payment providers.
The Strise platform, which integrates network, AI, and NLP technologies, has been called a game changer because of the possibility to pull and analyze vital data in real time. Customers are said to have reduced the time they spend on diligence by 90%, and reduced costs by 30%.
“There will also be further growth opportunities for Strise with the passage of the EU’s Digital Services Act, where large marketplaces such as Amazon will need to verify each seller, meaning KYC will encompass everything from partners and suppliers to potential ESG policies of businesses”, Atomico commented. “While there’s still a long way to go in the fight against money laundering and corruption, Strise is giving its customers the infrastructure they need to stay a step ahead and reduce the global impact of financial crime.”
Fight financial crime
With this new investment, Strise is set to drive its international expansion across key European markets, starting with the UK, and to expand its customer base across financial, insurance, legal, and other industries.
The company will also use the funding to further enhance its end-to-end AML product offering to fight financial crime, and to ensure safer and more transparent business dealings.
Other angel investors to this funding round included Camilla Giesecke (Klarna COO), Phil Chambers (founder of Peakon, exited to Workday), Francois Callens (former CFO of Depop), Marcus Krylborn (growth at Snap), Riya Grover (CEO and co-founder of Sequence) and Allison Pickens (former COO of Gainsight).
Atomico Partner Don Hoang will also join the Strise board.