Acin https://acin.com/, the data standards firm that is digitising 
operational and non-financial risk, today announces it has secured $12 million 
in Series A funding. 

    The funding round was led by leading European SaaS investor Notion Capital 
https://notion.vc/, which will work closely with Acin to drive rapid growth, 
and supported by Fitch Ventures, the investment arm of the US-based Fitch 
Group, a global leader in credit ratings and research. Other new and existing 
investors include Cris Conde (former President & CEO of SunGard), Christopher 
Carter (Chairman of Artorius Wealth Management and former Vice Chairman – 
Institutional Securities at Morgan Stanley) and Carlos Gonzales-Cadenas (COO at 
GoCardless and ex SkyScanner CPO). Additional, strategic investors will join 
this round in a second closing.

    The funding will enable Acin to rapidly accelerate its proposition, by 
continuing to enhance its cloud-based Terminal with additional inventories of 
risks and controls, software extensions and integrated benchmarking. This will 
provide financial institutions with a complete front-to-back-office solution to 
assess and manage their operational and non-financial risks. With extensive 
applications beyond financial services, Acin will expand its solution into 
further sectors over time. 

    Acin's award-winning system was created for, and in collaboration with, the 
world's largest financial institutions. It revolutionises the way these 
organisations manage their operational and non-financial risk and controls 
through a standardised, industry-wide inventory, and a first-of-its-kind 
Network that facilitates collaboration between members, currently 14 tier-one 
banks. 

    The system allows member organisations to fully digitise and quantify their 
operational and non-financial risks for the first time ever and enables them to 
manage these risks using ground-breaking data science, as well as comparing 
with, and learning from, peers. The result is improved understanding and 
management of their operational and non-financial risk position, which 
ultimately makes their business safer and more efficient. This could have 
significant balance sheet benefits by reducing the operational risk capital 
that they are required to hold in the future.

    Paul Ford, CEO and Founder of Acin, commented: "The need to digitise 
operational and non-financial risks is now more important than ever for the 
financial services sector, with the Covid-19 crisis shedding fresh light on the 
need for data to manage existing and emerging risks. We are seeing a collective 
desire from the industry for a solution built on collaboration and sharing of 
information and Acin's approach is transformative in its ability to deliver 
this. This funding will enable us to accelerate our growth to meet the demand 
and needs of our clients. 

    "Notion is the perfect partner for Acin, as they share our belief in the 
market opportunity and in the value of our solution. They have a wealth of 
experience and connections, and we're extremely excited about working with them 
to realise our potential."  Ford continued: "To have Fitch invest in Acin is a 
testament to the importance of the opportunity we are addressing and a 
commitment to seeing it through – we are delighted to have their backing."

    Stephen Chandler, Managing Partner at Notion, said: "Numerous 
billion-dollar tech companies have been created in Market and Credit Risk but 
Operational Risk remains under-served, with static data and antiquated 
processes and systems. As such, Acin's ground-breaking platform is addressing 
one of the largest 'white space' opportunities in the overall risk landscape 
and their client list is a testament to the strength of their offering. We at 
Notion are delighted to be supporting them on their journey to define and lead 
this category."

    Shea Wallon, Managing Director, Fitch Ventures underlined their interest in 
Operational Risk by remarking: "We have been tracking Acin and talking to the 
team over the last 18 months – we have been impressed by both their client 
engagement and the dedicated focus they bring to the questions they are 
answering as they build their operating system. We are excited that Acin is the 
first European investment for Fitch Ventures."

    Acin was advised by Zelig, an independent investment bank providing M&A and 
fundraising advice to entrepreneurs, corporates and investors operating in the 
FinTech sector globally. It was also supported by international law firm 
Withers, through its specialist venture capital and technology team at Withers 
tech, which advises founders, companies and investors across its offices in 
Europe, the US and APAC.

    Notes to Editors
    Contact: elizabeth.james@theagencypartnership.com , +44 7534 178 225

    About Acin

    Acin is the leading risk and control data standards, benchmarking and 
controls data analytics company. Acin enables firms to standardise 
non-financial risks and controls, improve efficiency and reduce the cost of 
their risk and control operating model.

    We are a SaaS-based, Enterprise platform transforming the way financial 
services firms manage non-financial risk through a technology, data standards 
and content-driven platform that connects financial services firms together to 
better measure, manage and mitigate non-financial risk. We are resolving the 
root cause of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms.

    Acin's solution has received widespread industry recognition, including 
multiple awards wins such as the IIRSM Risk Excellence Award 2020, and has been 
named as one of the most innovative RegTech companies in 2019 and 2020.

    www.acin.com

    Source: Acin