AI Company Castellum.AI Secures $8.5 Million in Series A Funding to Boost Adoption of Its AI Agent and AML/KYC Platform
Castellum.AI, a cutting-edge financial crime compliance platform, has successfully raised $8.5 million in Series A funding, demonstrating strong market validation from a diverse range of credit unions and banks[1][2][4]. This investment will accelerate the adoption of Castellum.AI's AI-driven Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening solutions.
The platform's key features and benefits include an in-house stack of AI agents, risk data, and AML/KYC screening, integrated into a single, audit-ready system[2][3]. This integration significantly reduces false positives by 94%, drastically lowering the volume of unnecessary alerts that compliance teams must investigate[1][2][3]. Furthermore, compliance review times are cut by 83%, improving operational efficiency and enabling faster customer onboarding and transaction processing[1][2][3].
Castellum.AI's AI agents have passed the CAMS practice exam—a key certification in financial crime roles—on the first attempt. Training was led by former regulators and complies with regulatory guidance from entities such as OCC, NCUA, NY DFS, and California DFPI[1][2][3]. Discussions are ongoing for official CAMS certification of the AI agents[1].
The platform's real-time risk exposure notifications are powered by a patented data collection process and machine learning, providing timely alerts on risk exposure sourced from over 200,000 global sources updated every 5 minutes[3]. Institutions can adopt the platform in a modular fashion tailored to their specific risk requirements, minimizing switching costs and ensuring smooth integration without disrupting existing workflows[1][2][3][4].
The platform also maintains comprehensive audit trails for every decision, enabling confidence in deploying AI agents in frontline financial crime prevention while complying with regulations[2]. Castellum.AI's system has proven impact across various financial institutions, with a sponsor bank reducing AML/KYC review costs by 88%, a community bank lowering transaction screening false positives by 94%, and a Fortune 50 corporation cutting Level 1 KYC alerts by 83%[1].
Ajay Gopal, a partner at Framework Venture Partners, expressed confidence in Castellum.AI's ability to rapidly support clients due to their layering of AI agents on top of existing tools[1]. Mike Sekits, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of BTech Consortium, believes that Castellum.AI is the only company that combines all three essential components: data, screening, and AI agents[1].
The funding round was led by Curql, supported by over 130 credit unions, including Navy Federal. Nick Evans, President and CEO of Curql, stated that Castellum.AI's technology is necessary for financial institutions to keep up with next-generation technology in the fight against financial crime[1].
Castellum.AI's platform integrates AI summaries for global adverse media, reducing review times. It also supports Level 1 and Level 2 alert adjudications and Level 3 investigations. The platform's AI-powered enrichments categorize unstructured data in real-time, making it a preferred choice for financial institutions, credit unions, fintechs, and crypto exchanges looking to optimize their compliance processes[1].
This funding round underscores Castellum.AI's position as a next-generation compliance solution that tackles longstanding challenges in financial crime detection. By eliminating bottlenecks, improving accuracy, and accelerating compliance operations using explainable AI technology, Castellum.AI is helping financial institutions, credit unions, fintechs, and crypto exchanges transform their financial crime compliance processes[3][4].
In the realm of business and technology, Castellum.AI's AI-driven Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening solutions have demonstrated their effectiveness in various financial institutions, allowing community banks to lower transaction screening false positives by 94%, sponsor banks to reduce AML/KYC review costs by 88%, and a Fortune 50 corporation to cut Level 1 KYC alerts by 83%. Moreover, the platform intelligently integrates AI-powered enrichments, AI summaries for global adverse media, and supports Level 1 and Level 2 alert adjudications and Level 3 investigations, making it an ideal choice for financial institutions aiming to optimize their compliance processes using cutting-edge artificial-intelligence.
