Greenlite AI Secures $15M to Boost Financial Crime Compliance With AI-Powered Assistant

Greenlite AI Secures $15M to Enhance Financial Crime Compliance

San Francisco-based startup Greenlite AI, known for its compliance software used by financial institutions and fintechs such as Grasshopper Bank and Mercury, announced a $15 million Series A funding round. The investment, led by Greylock with contributions from Thomson Reuters Ventures, Canvas Prime, and Y Combinator, will support technology improvements and onboarding of clients currently on the waitlist.

Helping Financial Crime Teams Work Smarter

Greenlite AI's software assists financial crime teams with sanctions screening, know-your-customer (KYC) compliance, and anti-money laundering (AML) investigations. Grasshopper Bank, which manages $1.4 billion in assets, uses the platform for enhanced due diligence and ongoing customer monitoring as mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act. The software has cut the time needed for enhanced due diligence reviews by nearly 70%, according to Christopher Mastrangelo, the bank's chief compliance officer.

Coastal Community Bank reports similar benefits. Andrew Stines, the bank's chief risk officer, noted that Greenlite's platform saved significant analyst hours spent on data gathering and synthesis, resulting in higher quality outcomes and cost savings.

Why Investors Are Interested

Investors see value in improving compliance efficiency and accuracy. Tim Mayopoulos, Greenlite angel investor and former CEO of Fannie Mae, emphasized that complex compliance challenges are big data problems where AI can help financial institutions meet regulatory requirements more effectively and economically than simply hiring more staff.

Competitive AI Solutions in Financial Crime Compliance

Greenlite AI is part of a growing field of companies using artificial intelligence to support financial crime compliance. Oracle recently introduced agentic AI for AML and financial crime investigations. Other notable competitors include ThetaRay, Quantexa, Hawk, Feedzai, NICE Actimize, SymphonyAI, and ComplyAdvantage, all offering AI-driven tools for AML, fraud detection, and related compliance tasks.

How Greenlite AI Works

Greenlite’s AI agents collect and synthesize data from various sources such as corporate registries, news articles, company websites, and social media. This helps build comprehensive customer profiles and analyze transactions. For example, an analyst conducting enhanced due diligence typically researches a potential client across multiple platforms; Greenlite automates this routine data collection, generating summaries that help analysts focus on critical alerts.

Will Lawrence, Greenlite’s CEO, compares the AI agents to paralegals preparing case files, enabling analysts to make high-quality decisions faster. The platform also supports regulatory compliance by adhering to guidelines such as the OCC’s model risk management and New York’s NYDFS 504 transaction monitoring requirements.

Governance and Regulatory Compliance

Greenlite maintains governance, model validation, and expert testing to ensure strict compliance with banking regulations. The company monitors regulatory changes closely and updates its AI models accordingly, reinforcing confidence in the platform’s reliability.

Balancing AI with Human Oversight

While AI improves efficiency, experts caution that it cannot fully eliminate risks associated with money laundering and financial crime. Charles Subrt, research director at Datos Insights, highlights that AML programs aim to provide intelligence and deterrence rather than guarantee complete detection. Effective compliance requires a combination of technology and human judgment to maintain a strong defense.

Conclusion

Greenlite AI’s recent funding boosts its capacity to refine its compliance platform and expand its user base. Its approach to automating routine information gathering and transaction analysis offers financial institutions a practical way to streamline compliance workflows and improve decision-making quality.

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