Artificial intelligence-powered anti-money laundering and fraud prevention solutions company Hawk AI GmbH announced today that it has raised $56 million in new funding to support continued product innovation and global expansion, particularly into the U.S. market.

Founded in 2018 by fintech veterans Tobias Schweiger and Wolfgang Berner, Hawk has as its mission to assist financial institutions in combating financial crime more effectively and efficiently through the use of explainable AI.

The company’s platform offers a suite of products designed to enhance risk coverage and operational efficiency, including Payment Screening, Transaction Monitoring, Customer Screening, Customer Risk Rating, AML AI Overlay, Transaction Fraud Detection and Entity Risk Detection. The platform integrates traditional rule-based methods with AI to allow financial institutions to detect suspicious activities in real time while significantly reducing false positives.

One of Hawk’s more interesting services is its AML AI Overlay solution, a service that allows banks to augment their existing AML systems with AI capabilities without the need for a complete system overhaul. The solution reduces false positives and enhances the detection of novel criminal activities while also improving compliance workflows and risk detection accuracy.

Hawk’s technology is built on a cloud-native architecture to ensure scalability, reliability and security. The platform supports multicloud deployments across providers such as Amazon Web Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure, offering global coverage with low latency.

The company’s solutions are used by varying clients, including banks, payment companies, neobanks, fast-growing fintechs and cryptocurrency platforms. Notable Hawk customers include Ecobank Transnational Inc., VakifBank International AG, Worldline S.A., North American Bancard LLC, Synctera Inc., Computer Services Inc., Volt Bank Ltd., Vodafone Group plc and VR Payment GmbH.

One Peak Partners LLP led the Series C round, joining existing investors Macquarie Capital Group Ltd., Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., BlackFin Capital Partners S.A.S., Sands Capital Management, DN Capital Group Ltd., Picus Security Inc. and Coalition Inc.

“The value that Hawk delivers to AML and fraud teams around the world is truly remarkable,” David Klein, co-founder and managing partner at One Peak, said in a press release. “Financial institutions of all sizes attest to Hawk’s ability to deliver impressive results, exceptional reliability and collaborative support.”

Image: Hawk