Curiosity, a Dutch venture capital fund focused on early-stage investments in AI startups in Northern Europe, announces today its investment in Strise, a Norwegian technology company that offers one of the leading KYC platforms. Together with other investors, €3.3 million has been made available to expand Strise's technological leadership in KYC across Europe.
Strise provides banks and fintechs with a smart automation and workflow system to improve and accelerate the KYC (Know Your Customer) screening of business clients and quickly operationalize changes in regulations to comply with strict AML (Anti Money Laundering) and sanctions legislation.
"We are on a mission to introduce our leading KYC Intelligence System globally. Our technology uniquely combines information about companies and individuals, providing unparalleled insights for the screening and onboarding of business clients; it also ensures ongoing customer monitoring. Three extremely costly problems that regulated companies face. We believe we can make a significant difference in this area.", says Marit Rødevand, CEO and co-founder of Strise.
Strise utilizes network, AI, and NLP technologies that are integrated into an intelligent KYC system that helps financial institutions automate compliance processes. This increases operational efficiency and significantly reduces regulatory risk compared to traditional methods. Since Strise's commercial launch in 2020, the company has grown to become one of the leading KYC Intelligence Systems in Scandinavia, used daily by major players in banking and finance, such as Nordea, Danske Bank, and the SpareBank1 Alliance.
The investment round was led by Curiosity. Existing investor Maki.vc and new investors Sondo Capital and Likeminded also participated.
"We see this investment as a huge recognition of our leading technology and the fantastic work of our team so far. Attracting new capital is a challenge for many scale-ups in the current market sentiment. Therefore, we are especially proud of this successful funding round.", Rødevand continues.
The funding will primarily be used by Strise for further international growth in Europe. The new product 'Strise Connect' will also be launched to expand the integrations of the KYC platform with the existing systems of Strise clients. Finally, the company will further expand its partner program and roll out "Strise Global": a new product for due diligence on companies and sanctions worldwide, which will be launched on November 9.
"We are seeing a tremendous increase globally in the need for advanced KYC software to comply with regulations and combat illegal activities. Strise addresses this in an innovative way by integrating data sources and AI-driven insights into an intuitive interface for KYC teams to manage their workflow, which is clearly loved by its customers. Additionally, we are impressed by the drive and creativity of the Strise team led by founders Marit, Sigve, and Patrick. We look forward to working with them and growing Strise into a KYC market leader across Europe", says General Partner of Curiosity, Herman Kienhuis.
