Shield, a workplace intelligence platform for compliance teams at financial services firms, has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Macquarie Capital and OurCrowd, according to media reports. The Tel-Aviv based company has bootstrapped itself since its launch and will use these funds to expand its US presence through a New York office and to push growth in EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.
Shiran Weitzman, CEO of Shield, told the media, “The ability to access and understand new and evolving communication channels is increasingly becoming a pain point for organizations, no matter the industry, and this funding round is well-timed as it will empower us to scale our technology and enhance our already robust platform that addresses compliance concerns that enterprises deal with daily. As a bootstrapped company, we’ve already proven that our AI platform is unquestionably valuable to banks and financial institutions. Now, with the help of our highly regarded investors, we’re ready to further build out our technology, expand our global sales and customer success teams, and enhance our already impressive ability to discover and manage compliance and risk concerns across electronic communications.”
Shield also mentioned that its platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NPL) to enable regulated financial institutions to detect market abuse, gain behavioral analysis, mitigate toxic workplace culture and ultimately automate surveillance over all employee communication channels, saving both operational and compliance cost.
The company is built for today’s digital work environment, where organizations face multiple risks, including financial crime, privacy and misconduct. As remote and hybrid working is becoming more and more popular, global banks have come to rely upon compliance platforms, Weitzman said. The funding comes during a time when the industry is actively seeking cloud-based solutions — evidenced by Shield’s recent signing of a tier-one global bank as a client.