Napier

More Than $232 Million Raised by Nine Alums in Q1 2025

More Than $232 Million Raised by Nine Alums in Q1 2025
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: eSelf.AI, FutureVault, Highnote, Hypori, Kani Payments, LeapXpert, Method Financial, Napier, Quarterly Funding, Synctera, Zeta

Funding for Finovate alums rebounded significantly in the first quarter of 2025, year-over-year. Nine Finovate alums raised more than $232 million in funding, topping 2024’s first quarter tally by more than a million dollars.

Previous quarterly comparisons

  • Q1 2024: More than $113 million raised by nine alums
  • Q1 2023: More than $453 million raised by 13 alums
  • Q1 2022: More than $365 million raised by 11 alums
  • Q1 2021: More than $3.3 billion raised by 26 alums

January was the biggest funding month of the quarter, with two of the quarter’s top three equity investments coming in the first month of the year. That said, the fact that two of February’s investment totals were undisclosed means that February—often the lowest funding month of the quarter—might have been a bigger funding month than it appears.

Top equity investments from the quarter

  • Highnote: $90 million
  • Zeta: $50 million
  • Method Financial: $42 million

As noted above, the big investment bucks arrived early for Finovate alums in 2025. The largest fundraising for alums in Q1 was Highnote’s haul in January. The company, which offers modern card issuance and program management, secured $90 million in a Series B round led by Adams Street Partners. Highnote made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco.

The Highnote investment was almost as large as the next two biggest funding rounds for Finovate alums in Q1 2025. Method Financial also announced a major fundraising in January, securing an investment of $42 million in a Series B round led by Emergence Capital. Zeta announced raising $50 million from an undisclosed “strategic investor” in February.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q1 2025.

January 2025

More than $164 million raised by four alums

February 2025

More than $50 million raised by three alums

March 2025

More than $18 million raised by two alums

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the first quarter of 2025 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Napier AI Lands Investment from Marlin Equity

Napier AI Lands Investment from Marlin Equity
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Napier
  • UK-based financial crime compliance solutions company Napier AI has received a majority growth investment from Marlin Equity Partners.
  • Today’s funds add to Napier AI’s existing $55.8 million in funding and will be used to support global expansion and R&D.
  • The company’s Napier Continuum AI-powered AML compliance platform serves over 100 financial institutions, including major players like HSBC and State Street, using AI and data science to help compliance teams make faster, more accurate decisions.

Financial crime compliance solutions company Napier AI has received a majority growth investment from Marlin Equity Partners. The amount of the investment was undisclosed, but will be added to Napier’s $55.8 million in existing funds from the company’s 2024 round.

“The Napier AI team impressed us with their strategic and innovative product offering, and dedicated customer focus. As the regulatory landscape becomes more complex, this mission-critical compliance-first AI platform is well-positioned to deliver continued growth in the global anti-financial crime market,” said Marlin Managing Director Mike Wilkinson. “We are excited to work alongside the Napier AI management team and are thrilled to support the company’s vision of helping more enterprises effectively and efficiently put a halt to money laundering activities.”

The U.K.-based company said that it will use the funds to “advance its market position through ongoing research and development” and support its global expansion.

Napier was founded in 2015 and offers Napier Continuum, an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance suite that provides AML screening and monitoring solutions in a modular platform that helps businesses scale. The company leverages AI and data science to help compliance teams make decisions quickly and accurately. The Continuum platform counts more than 100 financial institution clients, including HSBC, State Street, Mizuho Trust & Banking, SS&C, Starling Bank, ClearBank and WTW.

“We believe our AI-enabled products and passionate employees allow us to deliver exceptional value to customers and partners,” said Napier AI CEO Greg Watson. “In an era of ever-evolving financial crime threats, having a modern solution leveraging AI and automation is paramount to maintaining regulatory compliance and protecting the financial services industry from bad actors. We’re delighted to have found the right partner at such a pivotal moment in our journey to help us continue our momentum and grow the Napier AI brand globally. Marlin has an incredible heritage in helping businesses like ours to scale and innovate, and we are confident both our customers and our teams will see immediate benefits from Marlin’s investment.”

Napier said that the investment highlights the demand for AI-based AML solutions in today’s increasingly complex regulatory environment. It also comes at a time when the fintech sector is quickly developing AI-powered tools to address financial crime, which reflects the financial services industry’s urgent need to combat increasingly advanced fraud techniques while simultaneously meeting stringent regulatory requirements.

Napier demoed its Customer Screening and Transaction Monitoring Enhancement software at FinovateEurope 2018 in London. At this year’s FinovateEurope event, taking place 25 through 26 February, we will showcase 30+ demoing companies, many of which are leveraging AI. Register today using this link and save 20% on your ticket.

Photo by Harrison Fitts

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Romania’s Salt Bank Turns to Regtech Napier AI for Transaction Monitoring

Romania’s Salt Bank Turns to Regtech Napier AI for Transaction Monitoring
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Napier
  • Financial crime compliance company Napier AI has partnered with Romania’s Salt Bank.
  • Salt Bank will deploy Napier AI’s transaction screening solution to protect transactions against a variety of fraud risks.
  • Napier AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018 in London.

Romania’s first neobank, Salt Bank, has teamed up with financial crime compliance company Napier AI. Salt Bank will deploy Napier AI’s Transaction Screening solution to ensure that the hundreds of millions of transactions Salt Bank handles are safe from fraud risks.

“We chose the Napier AI platform because it offered NextGen technology which enables us to strengthen our financial crime controls and matches our drive to offer clients a seamless digital experience, within a robust regulatory environment,” Salt Bank CEO Gabriela Nistor said.

Salt Bank sought out Napier AI’s technology to ensure that it is able to keep pace with evolving money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud risks on the one hand, and consumer demand for a seamless digital experience on the other. Napier AI’s Transaction Screening product features a user friendly interface with customizable workflows, a cloud-based deployment, a sandbox environment for optimizing screening configurations, and a configurable dashboard with no-code rule building and AI insights.

“Napier AI’s industry-leading Transaction Screening solution is set to help Salt Bank succeed in setting a new standard for banking in Romania,” Napier AI CEO Greg Watson said. “It is an exciting time for the industry and market, and I am excited to see how we work together to bring best-in-class financial crime compliance to the next generation of digital banking users.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in London, U.K., Napier made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2018. At the conference, the company demoed its Customer Screening and Transaction Monitoring Enhancement software. By addressing gaps in current legacy systems’ AML and client screening solutions – and extending their shelf life – Napier’s technology enables organizations to enhance the performance of their current fraud prevention processes.

Napier AI’s partnership news comes one month after the company teamed up with impact asset manager Finance in Motion. Finance in Motion will deploy Napier AI Continuum – including its Client Screening solution and Client Risk Assessment module – as its AML and counter terrorist financing platform. Earlier this year, Napier AI secured an investment of $56.6 million (£45 million) from Crestline Investors.

“We are excited to work with the Napier AI team and believe their market-leading, AI-powered technology platform is well-positioned to help financial institutions and other regulated companies excel in an environment with rapidly expanding transaction volumes and increasing regulatory requirements,” Crestline Managing Director Will Palmer said when the investment was announced in February.

Photo by Adrian Frentescu

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Impact Asset Manager Finance in Motion Partners with Financial Crime Regtech Napier AI

Impact Asset Manager Finance in Motion Partners with Financial Crime Regtech Napier AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Napier
  • Impact asset manager Finance in Motion has teamed up with financial crime compliance specialist Napier AI.
  • Finance in Motion will deploy Napier AI Continuum as its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) platform.
  • London-based Napier AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2018.

Financial crime compliance company Napier AI announced a partnership with impact asset manager Finance in Motion this week. The partnership calls for Finance in Motion to deploy Napier AI Continuum as its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) platform.

Additionally, Napier AI will include its Client Screening solution and Client Risk Assessment module as part of the Napier AI Continuum platform deployment. The objective is to provide Finance in Motion with the tools it needs to continue driving public and private capital toward impact investments in emerging markets – while ensuring that capital does not end up financing illicit or criminal activity.

Finance in Motion Managing Director Sylvia Wisniwski explained: “Like any institution, we have a duty to ensure that the public and private capital raised is used exclusively for the intended objectives, in our case impact investments in emerging markets. Accordingly, regulation requires effective measures to prevent funds from being used to finance criminal activities. The collaboration with Napier AI allows us to efficiently query data through automated processes and integrated systems.”

Napier AI Continuum will provide Finance in Motion with API-enabled, cloud native, automated client screening, and supports transliteration of 22 languages. The platform also offers AI fuzzy matching and secondary scoring capabilities. Finance in Motion will benefit from customizable workflows, a sandbox environment for optimizing screening configurations, and configurable dashboards with no-code rule binding and AI insights to drive efficient decisioning.

“The key to dismantling criminal networks lies in cutting off their sources of revenue entirely by correctly identifying accounts, transactions, and behavioural patterns associated with financial crime,” Napier AI CEO Greg Watson said. “Napier AI’s cutting edge compliance solutions supercharge Finance in Motion’s mission to generate positive change in emerging markets with automated client screening.”

Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany and founded in 2009, Finance in Motion specializes in development finance. An impact asset manager, the company structures, advises, and manage both private debt and equity investments in emerging markets. The company supports financing of projects ranging from sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and biodiversity, to micro-finance, natural capital, and affordable housing.

Finance in Motion has $2.8 billion (€3.6 billion) in assets under management or advisory, and has active investments in 39 countries. Last month, the company was featured in the ImpactAssets 50 roster of the top 50 impact managers in the world. The recognition was the eighth consecutive listing for Finance in Motion, which was named “Emeritus Impact Manager.”

Founded in 2015, Napier made its Finovate debut three years later at FinovateEurope 2018. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its Customer Screening and Transaction Monitoring Enhancement tools help improve AML oversight. The technology reduces false positives by up to 80%, and can be used to supplement or replace existing customer screening systems.

Napier began 2024 announcing a partnership with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) digital banking provider Satchel. The following month, Napier unveiled its Napier Continuum Live and Napier Continuum Flow services to facilitate the deployment of its AML platform. Napier Continuum Live is a plug-and-play hosted offering. Napier Continuum Flow is a headless API service.

Also in February Napier secured $56 million (£45 million) in funding from private equity firm Crestline Investors. The company said that the investment will help power business expansion over the coming years. The funds will also support Napier AI’s development of new NextGen screening and monitoring solutions powered by Explainable AI.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ABC TECH Group, Artivest, CREALOGIX, Fenergo, Fortytwo Data, ieDigital, InnoValor, iProov, LeapXpert, Lighter Capital, microblink, Monobank, Napier, TransUnion, Zafin

On Finovate.com

  • New Investment in Zafin to Drive Innovation in Financial Services.

Around the web

  • London-based anti-fraud platform Fortytwo Data rebrands as Napier.
  • Fenergo launches new low to no-code administration suite, Fenergo Digital Configuration Studio.
  • Lighter Capital provides $700,000 in growth capital to FitSmallBusiness.com.
  • Forrester names CREALOGIX a leader in the Now Tech: Digital Banking Engagment Platforms, Q4 2018, category.
  • Artivest announces expansion of its platform to include product structuring and fund distribution solutions.
  • TransUnion unveils its Auto Payment Shopper solution to improve the car buying process for consumers, lenders, and dealers.
  • ieDigital named “market challenger” in latest Ovum Decision Matrix.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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