InsightAI secures INR ₹11 million to boost AI anti-money laundering

New Delhi-based startup InsightAI has raised INR ₹11 million (approximately USD $132,000) in pre-seed funding from accelerator PedalStart and a group of angel investors. The investment aims to help InsightAI expand the reach of its artificial intelligence-based anti-money laundering (AML) solutions and enter international markets.

AI-driven compliance

InsightAI's technology is designed to support banks and payment providers in tackling money laundering through automated investigation and compliance tools. The company focuses on building AI-native systems that can identify suspicious activities and patterns in financial transactions, aiming for faster and more accurate detection.

The funds will be used to optimise AML case investigations, strengthen data protection and auditability, and develop region-specific compliance features. The company also plans to hire in areas such as artificial intelligence, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and business development.

International expansion

InsightAI intends to use part of the funding to expand into new markets across India and the Middle East. The company has already developed a prototype of its flagship solution and is working with a major bank in the United Arab Emirates.

Strategic partnerships with local firms and system integrators are also on the agenda, aiming to accelerate adoption among banks and payment companies in the targeted regions.

Sector support

Money laundering remains a persistent challenge for the financial sector, with international estimates indicating that between 2% and 5% of global GDP is linked to illicit financial flows each year. Financial institutions often face significant losses from fraudulent transactions, undetected money laundering, and regulatory penalties, which are further compounded by increasing operational costs.

Product roadmap

The pre-seed funding will support growth by building a solid sales pipeline and further developing the company's cloud-agnostic technology platform. InsightAI also highlighted its plans to serve several key players in the Middle East as it establishes a base in Dubai.

Akash Chandra and Vivek Kumar, Co-Founders of InsightAI, highlighted the significance of the funding for the company's ambition to become a core part of compliance and risk management for financial firms.

"We are excited to announce the pre-seed investment from PedalStart. It will help establish ourselves as a leading intelligence layer in the evolving compliance and risk management ecosystem. As we grow and navigate the complex global financial-technology landscape, we have already prototyped our flagship solution with strong performance benchmarks. Thanks to the pre-seed funds, we are ready for enterprise-grade product scaling as we make our platform even more robust, secure, and cloud-agnostic, deployable across multiple geographies. Going ahead, we aim to position ourselves as a leading innovation partner for global banks and payment companies, starting with setting up our base in Dubai and serving several key players in the Middle East," said Akash Chandra and Vivek Kumar, Co-Founders, InsightAI

Backer perspective

The investment from PedalStart is accompanied by ongoing support in areas such as go-to-market strategy and sales pipeline development. PedalStart's founders said the decision was based on InsightAI's focus and understanding of the sector.

"InsightAI is addressing a crucial need in the compliance and risk management space with its advanced technology and strong execution focus. Vivek and Akash bring deep domain understanding and technical expertise, which reflects in the maturity of their product and vision. At PedalStart, we believe their innovation has the potential to redefine how financial institutions strengthen compliance frameworks globally. We are excited to partner with them in this journey and support their growth as they scale across markets," said Manas Pal and Aditya Darolia, Co-Founders of PedalStart.

Industry recognition

InsightAI has been recognised for its work in financial crime detection at industry events, including at an HSBC Data Hackathon and the RBIH Fintech Hackathon. The company aims to develop its technology further to deliver real-time detection of fraud patterns and strengthen the compliance measures of banks.