UK startup TrueLayer, a fintech developer platform that provides access to bank APIs, has secured $3 million in series A funding to pursue opportunities created by PSD2.
The round was led by Anthemis Group, whose partner, Yann Ranchere, will join TrueLayer’s board. Existing investor Connect Ventures, with partner Pietro Bezza, also participated in the round.
Since the launch of the private beta in February, TrueLayer says it has seen hundreds of developers sign up to its service. The Series A funding will be used by TrueLayer to help the company expand its team and increase its coverage of supported banks before moving the API to general availability later in the year.
To give developers an easy way to access the bank data they need to build new financial apps and services, TrueLayer currently supports account verification, KYC processes, and transactional data for account aggregation, credit scoring and risk assessment.
In the coming months, TrueLayer will also build out its offering as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) and Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) in line with the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). It also plans to roll out compliance-as-a-service features to make it easier for developers and fintechs to access bank APIs within regulatory parameters while also drastically reducing the cost of compliance and operations.
TrueLayer was co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Francesco Simoneschi and Luca Martinetti. The Silicon Valley veterans previously co-founded Staq (acquired by Upsight) and DomainsBot, now part of the German group Sedo Holding Gmbh.
TrueLayer is available in the UK and will expand into other EU countries in 2018. The API is free to solo developers and early stage startups, with volume-based pricing and metered billing available to large applications and enterprises.
"The future of bank APIs isn’t yet straightforward; TrueLayer was born with a mission to remove the barriers that exist between consumers and innovative financial products. PSD2 will provide a clear regulatory framework and enhanced consumer protection. But although it will help to create greater collaboration and innovation, there are still many technology challenges that the industry needs to solve. Frictionless user experience and security are paramount going forward,” said Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder of TrueLayer.