Ascent, the Chicago-based RegTech, recently announced the closing of its Series B funding round of $19.3 million.

The round included investments from Drive Capital, ING, Wells Fargo, Alsop Louie, and The University of Chicago. Now entering its fourth year of operations, Ascent will use this round to fuel the continued growth of its team, product, and brand awareness in the financial compliance space.

“Keeping up with regulation is mission-critical for businesses,” said Brian Clark, Founder and CEO of Ascent. “While digital transformation of the enterprise is happening everywhere, compliance has been largely left behind, which is unthinkable considering the risk involved in compliance work.”

Ascent’s proprietary RegulationAI™ processes and analyses regulatory text automatically, saving hundreds of hours of manual processing and minimising errors. 

Benoit Legrand, CEO of ING Ventures and Chief Innovation Officer of ING says: “As the regulatory environment becomes increasingly demanding, so is the pressure on firms to remain compliant. In order to keep up with this ever-changing landscape and help relieve the mounting strain on resources, the financial services sector is continuously looking for more automated, intelligent and cost-effective ways to manage compliance. ING is keen to support innovative and visionary firms, such as Ascent, which will play an essential role in shaping the industry’s future.”