Ascent Technologies, a RegTech platform helping to build, manage, and automate compliance programs, has raised $6m.
The Series A financing was led by Alsop Louie Partners and joined by Randall Kroszner, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2009.
Other new investors include Temerity Capital Partners; Steve Kaplan of the University of Chicago, the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Doug Monieson, chairman emeritus of Hyde Park Angels.
Following the funding, Ascent also announced that Series A investor Mark Fields, former CEO of Wickr and founder of CME Ventures, is joining the company’s board of directors.
Ascent uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to transform raw regulatory data into discrete actions for compliance departments. Ascent analyses millions of data points from rules and documentation from a regulator. It then distributes this intelligence via regulatory channels, including the CFTC, CME, CBOE, ESMA, FINRA, ICE, SEC.
It claims its platform makes it easy for compliance officers in regulated industries to see exactly what is expected of their companies, then track and report on the steps they’re taking to stay compliant.
CEO and co-founder Brain Clark said: “What sets Ascent apart is our technological capacity to quickly analyze regulatory text, as well as the customization provided for each customer. Ascent uses machine learning to help automate channel building, allowing the company to continuously increase the information available to customers.”
“The regtech space generally aggregates data but requires users to build regulatory compliance programs manually. Ascent intelligently curates the information required for your firm, and updates it automatically, creating an elegant, simple, and comprehensive compliance process.”
The company will use the funds to enhance its automation engines, which will increase the number of regulatory channels available to customers. It also plans to expand its footprint in Chicago and increase their workforce, hiring a significant number of technology and sales staff.
Earlier this month, ING and CommonWealth Bank of Australia (CBA) completed a RegTech pilot. The project, which aims to simplify the processing of regulatory information, worked with Ascent Technologies, as well as law firm Pinsent Masons. Ascent’s technology enabled the banks ‘to quickly identify items’ in the regulation that could be reviewed and acted on, thus saving hundreds of hours of manual processing, according to a statement from ING.
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