Amid rising financial crime, Elucidate raises $8m

Elucidate, a financial crime risk management platform based in Berlin, has raised $8m.

The company says the pandemic has sparked a dramatic increase in financial crime, which has been further exacerbated by growing instability in Eastern Europe from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The Ukraine-Russia conflict and the complexity banks have faced implementing the most recent sanctions has, once again, revealed the sheer scale of financial crime risk banks can find themselves exposed to when they lack the proper tools,” said Shane Riedel, co-founder and CEO of Elucidate.

A global “reset” in how banks manage financial crime is needed, he says. 

“This funding validates the vital work we are doing, strengthens our position in the market and shows that especially in this current era of geopolitical instability, the financial community is calling for innovative tech solutions to overcome systemic challenges," he added. 

In total, the company has raised $14m in funding and its team has grown to more than 40 people.

This latest funding round was led by AV8 Ventures, alongside Elevator Ventures, the venture capital arm of Raiffeisen Bank, and Tommy Nicholas, Founder and CEO of Alloy. 

Existing investors APEX Ventures, Frontline Ventures, BiG Start Ventures and SixThirty Ventures, also participated. 

Elucidate says it has rated over 20,000 organisations since it was founded in 2018, setting a regulated benchmark to help the sector effectively counter surging financial crime.

It plans a push into engaging with “key public authorities” including the FCA in the UK on current the challenges of countering financial crime through existing processes.