Ascent Technologies raised $6 million in an oversubscribed round, led by Alsop Louie Partners and joined by Randall Kroszner, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2009.
Ascent will be using this funding to build on their automation engines increasing the number of regulatory channels available to customers. It’s also announced plans to expand in Chicago and increase their workforce, hiring a significant number of technology and sales staff.
The fundraising follows a MiFID II pilot with ING and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in which the banks used the company’s technology to save hundreds of hours of manual processing time.
Ascent uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to turn raw regulatory data into discrete actions for compliance departments. The regtech analyzes millions of data points from rules and documentation from a regulator, creating a constantly-updated regulatory channel. Ascent distributes this intelligence via regulatory channels, including the CFTC, CME, CBOE, ESMA, FINRA, ICE, and SEC.
In addition to Alsop Louie Partners and Krozner, other new investors include Temerity Capital Partners; Steve Kaplan of the University of Chicago, the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Doug Monieson, chairman emeritus of Hyde Park Angels.
Ascent also announced that Series A investor Mark Fields, former CEO of Wickr and founder of CME Ventures, is joining the company’s Board of Directors. Fields will serve alongside Board Members and existing investors Paul Wood (co-founder and former Managing Director of Madison Dearborn Partners), Jim Gray (current CEO of proprietary trading company G-Bar LP and founder/former CEO of OptionsXpress), Ascent CEO Brian Clark, and Ascent COO Aaron Droba.