RegTech firm APLYiD has secured NZD $7m from a Series A funding round to expand its customer onboarding software internationally.
The round was led by UK VC Octopus Ventures and also included participation from Australian VC Tribe Global Ventures. The investment from Octopus coincides with its recent opening of its first UK office earlier this month, which was its first step outside of Australia and New Zealand.
Founded in 2018, APLYiD specialises in the regulatory requirements for ID verification and anti-money laundering globally. The firm claims it brings to the market a software-as-a-service solution that provides a simple biometric ID match and check service that complies with regulatory legislation.
According to APLYiD, its partnership with Octopus will fuel its ambition to help more business around the world stay compliant while offering a seamless customer onboarding experience.
APLYiD CEO and co-founder Russell Smith said, “Particularly for SMEs without the means to build their own tech from scratch, swimming between these moving flags has been an impossible task on their own. The flexibility of our technology means we can offer smaller organisations an ‘out of the box’ solution to help them immediately, or we can provide a more bespoke technology, depending on what an organisation needs.
“This kind of adaptability is essential for customer needs as diverse as law firms meeting their AML requirements, rental car companies stamping out fraud, or remittance services speeding up their onboarding.”
Octopus Ventures investor Edward Keelan added, “In the last two years we have seen a rapid acceleration in the need for digital onboarding solutions, as more of our lives move online. At the same time, regulators are demanding more robust systems to ensure AML and KYC compliance, while customers expect a quick and easy experience.
“That’s where we see a huge opportunity for APLYiD, which has built an end-to-end digital identity verification process that meets stringent regulation, but also provides a super smooth user journey with instant results. Russell and Claudia make a formidable team with huge depth of experience in the field and we are excited to support them in their next stage of growth.
“This is also our first investment in a New Zealand headquartered business, which I think reflects the growing number of exciting technology companies the country is now starting to produce, with a similar story in Australia. We’re looking closely at opportunities in both markets, especially given the expertise we can offer companies looking to establish a presence in the UK and expand into Europe and North America.”
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