London fintech Relace raised $1.6m (£1.2m) in pre-seed funding to help financial firms manage regulatory requirements with artificial intelligence. Boost Capital led the round, with investment from Ascension, Koro Capital and angel investors from JPMorgan, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, OpenAI and SAP. Founded by former lawyer Justin Peimani and AI engineer Lyubomira Dimitrova, Relace was also selected for the Financial Conduct Authority’s Supercharged Sandbox, supported by Anthropic and Nvidia. The programme’s second cohort selected 21 companies from 199 applicants and runs until the end of 2026.

Relace’s platform identifies regulations that apply to a financial business, checks whether it meets those obligations and flags potential gaps. The company says compliance work still often depends on spreadsheets, lengthy documents and external legal advice, which can slow product launches and overseas expansion. Peimani said the volume of rules has risen over the last decade and cited AI and cybersecurity among drivers of further requirements. He also said a shortage of qualified compliance staff is adding pressure, and argued the technology can help firms use existing staff more effectively. One customer identified 21 previously unknown risks with the platform, he said.

Relace has not disclosed its revenue or valuation. It plans to use the funding to hire engineers, extend regulatory coverage across the UK, EU, US and Middle East, and build its commercial team. The company is working with Gemcorp Capital, a private credit investor managing around $7bn in assets; its chief compliance officer, Patrick Nyamangunda, said work that usually takes weeks was completed in days across two jurisdictions.

The sandbox work focuses on the FCA’s Consumer Duty rules, which require financial firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. The FCA has also launched a Scale-up Unit that gives businesses closer access to regulatory officials. Dimitrova said the sandbox’s industry experts were a major benefit. She said Relace combines AI with conventional software methods and provides references for its conclusions, so compliance teams can check and amend results. The founders said firms retain responsibility for meeting regulatory obligations, and Peimani said the FCA is clear that ultimate responsibility rests with each firm.

London fintech Relace raised $1.6m (£1.2m) in pre-seed funding to help financial firms manage regulatory requirements with artificial intelligence. Boost Capital led the round, with investment from Ascension, Koro Capital and angel investors from JPMorgan, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, OpenAI and SAP. Founded by former lawyer Justin Peimani and AI engineer Lyubomira Dimitrova, Relace was also selected for the Financial Conduct Authority’s Supercharged Sandbox, supported by Anthropic and Nvidia. The programme’s second cohort selected 21 companies from 199 applicants and runs until the end of 2026.

Relace’s platform identifies regulations that apply to a financial business, checks whether it meets those obligations and flags potential gaps. The company says compliance work still often depends on spreadsheets, lengthy documents and external legal advice, which can slow product launches and overseas expansion. Peimani said the volume of rules has risen over the last decade and cited AI and cybersecurity among drivers of further requirements. He also said a shortage of qualified compliance staff is adding pressure, and argued the technology can help firms use existing staff more effectively. One customer identified 21 previously unknown risks with the platform, he said.

Relace has not disclosed its revenue or valuation. It plans to use the funding to hire engineers, extend regulatory coverage across the UK, EU, US and Middle East, and build its commercial team. The company is working with Gemcorp Capital, a private credit investor managing around $7bn in assets; its chief compliance officer, Patrick Nyamangunda, said work that usually takes weeks was completed in days across two jurisdictions.

The sandbox work focuses on the FCA’s Consumer Duty rules, which require financial firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. The FCA has also launched a Scale-up Unit that gives businesses closer access to regulatory officials. Dimitrova said the sandbox’s industry experts were a major benefit. She said Relace combines AI with conventional software methods and provides references for its conclusions, so compliance teams can check and amend results. The founders said firms retain responsibility for meeting regulatory obligations, and Peimani said the FCA is clear that ultimate responsibility rests with each firm.