MetaQuotes Leads $6 Million Funding Round in KYC/AML Risk Management AI Platform Sumsub

A regtech SaaS provider Sumsub (formerly Sum&Substance) has raised $6 million Series A funding round from a group of strategic investors to accelerate the global expansion of its machine-learning platform for user onboarding and KYC/AML compliance.

The round, led by Cyprus-based MetaQuotes, the major software provider for brokerages, banks, hedge funds and exchanges, also involves a group of strategic investors, and several existing investors, including Ilia Perekopsky, VP of Telegram messenger.

By providing an efficient AI-powered identity verification and compliance risk management toolkit Sumsub fundamentally changes how companies assess their corporate and individual clients, it even can affect how firms deal with crypto. First, the system automate identity verification, rockets a check to 60 seconds and drives conversion rate up to 97%. Recognized by multiple regulators and experienced in working with banks, Sumsub translates an AML policy of organization into automated digital workflows, providing compliance officers with a single solution to risk management onboarding users from over 200 regions. All of the above brought Sumsub to a growing number of 400 clients coming from banking, fintech, trading, gaming and sharing economy. Some of these clients are BlaBlaCar, JobToday, Exness, Gett, Flippa, HRS Group, ESL Gaming.

MetaQuotes had also bought out the shares of the first Sumsub investor, early stage venture fund Flint Capital, which had managed to achieve 5.5x from the exit.

Sumsub will use the proceeds to drive global expansion, hire staff and fasten product development. It aims to reach over 500 new SME and SMB customers worldwide by the beginning of 2021.

Andrew Sever, CEO and co-founder of Sumsub, says: “Around the world, thousands of global companies suffer from the overwhelming number of jurisdictions they conduct business in, from the differences and even variability of their requirements, making compliance and risks extremely difficult to manage and scale. We solve the issue by presenting teams with a single solution to drive customer and enhanced due diligence from one place, customizing the onboarding flow to any jurisdiction or requirement. Most importantly, we consult and support clients on legal and compliance framework to make it fit the applicable laws. With MetaQuotes joining our renowned group of existing investors, Sumsub has the global support of the greatest strategists to disrupt the most promising segment in the present world economy — regtech.”

Andrew Sever, CEO and co-founder of Sumsub

Renat Fatkhullin, CEO at MetaQuotes: “First, we’ve met Sumsub as potential clients on the hunt for a working product. For several years, we have had brokers request a compliance solution within MetaTrader. By the time we have met Sumsub, we had already tried dozens of other systems, but none of them suited us in terms of functionality and technical execution. Sumsub was far ahead of the competition. We saw it and thought it was an excellent opportunity for us to participate in what Sumsub does, hoping that our expertise will bring additional value to the project.”

Sumsub makes compliance flexible for clients and easier for end-users. Whether these are existing features such as automatically generated regulatory reports and tools for manual re-check of suspicious profiles, or new functionalities such as chargeback prevention, Sumsub continues to solve compliance and anti-fraud challenges faced by digital companies around the world.

The company was founded by three Israeli brothers Andrew, Jacob and Peter, and a former ResearchGate technical architect, Vyacheslav Zholudev, in 2015 in London. For the first years of existence, the company worked with forensic centers and assisted the police and intelligent services worldwide in investigating incidents related to online fraud. The team was often investigating fraud in sharing economy and fintech, accumulating valuable expertise in AML, data privacy compliance and anti-fraud, advising and working together with regulators, banks and financial crime police organizations. 

Since December 2017, when the first identity verification and compliance product of the company was released, Sumsub had focused on an easy to use technical and legal solutions for professional compliance and anti-fraud teams working in trading, payments, sharing economy and gaming industries. The company had welcomed more than 400 clients, verified tens of millions of identities, integrated thousands of data validation and AML screening sources, made the flow customizable to the requirements of local and global regulations and to the specific needs of their clients. Solution is currently available in over 200 countries and territories, assessing biometrics and 6500 different types of identity documents.