Due diligence platform Umazi eyes up growth as it signs with Aviva and Artesian:DueDil and closes $1m investment

• Umazi is the first cross-sector enterprise due-diligence platform revolutionising the process through its verified digital identities
• These identities and its credentials can be shared with other organisations, thus eliminating costly, onerous and duplicative due diligence
• The female-lead team has secured $1m funding led by Innovate UK & Founders Factory 
• Cost of due diligence has risen by a third in the past six months – with high-risk clients costing some banks $3,000 and 140 days to check 
• Heavy-hitters Aviva, Artesian : DueDil, ComplyAdvantage and South Africa’s Webber Wentzel are partnering with Umazi to simplify due diligence

London: Umazi, the due diligence platform automating enterprise identity verification, has secured $1m investment from Innovate UK and other angel investors, as it announces a spate of high-profile partnerships with Aviva, Webber Wentzel, Artesian : DueDil & ComplyAdvantage to simplify their due diligence systems.

The $1million pre-seed investment which involved angel investors across the world will help fuel the regtech startup’s ambition of being the global standard for cross-industry digital identity and compliance.

Umazi, which is currently in Founders Factory’s accelerator programme, is focused on overcoming the costly, onerous and duplicative compliance processes. 

Recent research from Thompson Reuters shows 60% of companies view compliance as a barrier to entering new markets, with many reporting the cost of compliance has gone up by a third in the past six months. In fact, some banks have admitted it can cost up to $3,000 and 140 days to complete due to diligence checks on a high-risk client – which then needs to be refreshed periodically .

Umazi addresses this problem with distributed ledger technology (DLT), drastically reducing the complexity of the compliance process by creating secure digital identities featuring due diligence credentials. These are then credentials are then verified by regulated entities and housed on an open-source permissioned blockchain platform – allowing for a real-time and transparent audit process, enabling financial institutions and their clients to manage their data more effectively.

Testament to its early success, Umazi has already secured a global roster of notable clients including Aviva, which is trialling its digital identities technology to make its supplier onboarding much more efficient. Suppliers are able to input relevant data into the Umazi platform only once, independent of their geography, to be reused by all Aviva companies or other institutions.

Umazi is also working with the likes of Webber Wentzel in South Africa and market leaders like Artesian : DueDil and ComplyAdvantage. Under these partnerships, Umazi and partners are aiming to set the standard for enterprise due diligence processes for the SME market; the collaboration will, according to Accenture, uniquely facilitate a more streamlined and robust compliance landscape.  .

Cindy van Niekerk, Umazi’s founder and CEO, said:

“It’s astonishing that enterprise due diligence is still such a costly, time-consuming exercise that is repeated over and over again.  It’s clear due diligence is ripe for tech disruption and we are the first and only tech platform to take on the challenge. With new funds in the bank and global partnerships in place, we’re already demonstrating how Umazi brings fuss-free digital due-diligence”

Ben Luckett, Chief Innovation Officer, Aviva plc adds:

“Umazi is a fantastic example of the kind of regtech innovation needed to transform an all too unglamorous but vital function – corporate due diligence. As a partner, we’re delighted to be trialling Umazi’s technology, and early indications show it will help make our own supplier onboarding process much more efficient.”

• Ends –

Notes to Editors

For further information, please contact:

Monira Matin (on behalf of Umazi): 

[email protected]

07473576329

About Umazi

Umazi helps to automate and accelerate enterprise identity verification. It uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) and network effects to create secure digital identities verified by regulated entities that can be shared across organisations, regulatory jurisdictions and function in different languages. This is all housed on an open-source permissioned blockchain platform, improving trust and transparency and eliminating the current costly, time consuming and onerous due diligence process.

About Aviva Ventures

Aviva is a leading provider of life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management. We are focused on the UK, Ireland and Canada where we have leading market positions and significant potential, and we invest for growth in these markets. 

We are transforming Aviva’s customer experience through innovation, including proposition development, partnerships and Aviva Ventures investments. For more details, visit www.aviva.com/about-us/innovation/ 

About Founders Factory 

As the world’s leading venture studio and accelerator, Founders Factory builds and scales technology startups solving global problems.

Founded in 2015 by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox and George Northcott, Founders Factory combines capital and bespoke support from a team of over 100 specialists with a broad network of corporates and established entrepreneurs.

The Founders Factory portfolio includes over 200 category-defining tech companies globally, 45+ of which have been built from scratch in its Venture Studio. Their partners include Aviva, L’Oreal, Guardian Media Group, easyJet, Reckitt, Chinese private equity firm CSC Group and Standard Bank.

About Artesian : DueDil

Artesian : DueDil helps companies in financially regulated industries do better business faster. Its solutions allow front and middle office teams to engage, onboard and retain the right business customers for life. Best-in-class data enrichment provides a comprehensive customer view and a powerful, low-code rules engine reduces the regulatory burden and drives greater automation. Through its web application and best-in-class API, Artesian : DueDil drastically reduces the cost to acquire and serve the right business customers.

Backed by top tier investors including Octopus Investments, Notion Capital, Augmentum Fintech and notable angel investors, Artesian:DueDil brings together decades of combined experience serving UK financial institutions. Today, it serves more than 600 customers and 15,000 end users in 6 of the 10 largest UK banks, as well as top insurers and FinTechs. 

Visit https://www.better-business-faster.com/ to find out more.