Fundraising Fox

Flagright

YC W22

San Francisco, US · Founded 2021 · 31 employees · Hiring · 11 known investors

Flagright provides transaction monitoring software for financial institutions to detect and manage suspicious activity. The platform serves banks and financial institutions across multiple countries.

Also known as Flagright

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W22)

Flagright was founded in 2021 by Baran Özkan, Madhu G. Nadig, and Madhu G Nadig.

Baran Özkan
Baran Özkanin𝕏Co-Founder & CEOHe brings experience across healthcare, marketing, e-commerce, logistics, and fintech, and holds a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) credential.
MGMadhu G. Nadig
Madhu G. Nadigin𝕏Co-Founder & CTOMadhu G Nadig is co-founder and CTO of Flagright. He has prior engineering experience in data analytics for pharmaceuticals, cloud infrastructure, and real-time systems for logistics and fintech companies.
MGMadhu G Nadig
Madhu G Nadigin𝕏Co-Founder & CTOHe has previously worked on data analytics and integration in pharmaceuticals, cloud computing infrastructure in logistics and fintech, and social media marketing.

Investors · 11

Also in the syndicate · 7

Ahmed BadrAndré SilvaPhillip ChambersRubin RitterSaqib MirzaSella Direct VenturesTeng Sherng Lim

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$25M disclosed across 2 of 4 rounds · 2025–2026

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Flagright provides a financial crime compliance platform for regulated financial institutions, positioning itself as an "AI operating system" for anti-money-laundering (AML) and fraud operations. The product suite unifies real-time and post-event transaction monitoring, dynamic customer risk scoring, watchlist and sanctions screening, case management, regulatory filing (including SAR filing to FinCEN and goAML in 70+ countries), a no-code rule engine with rule simulation and shadow rules, workflow building, quality assurance, network analysis ("Ontology"), and AI agents branded AI Forensics and AI Co-Pilot. The platform can be adopted end-to-end or as individual modules.

Core capabilities described by the company include sub-second API response times, data processing under 700 milliseconds, 99.99% uptime, a centralized data lake that feeds AI agents, and human-in-the-loop controls with auditable decision logging designed for regulatory examination. Customers are reported to build rules in about three minutes on average, and the company cites up to 93% false positive reduction, 81% operational cost savings and 50% shorter investigation times.

Flagright serves banks and financial institutions, payment processors, digital banks and neobanks, credit unions, brokerages and trusts, crypto and Web3 firms, and remittance providers, spanning enterprise, mid-market and SMB segments.

Founding story

Co-founders Baran Ozkan (CEO) and Madhu G. Nadig (CTO) built Flagright as the platform they wished existed after Ozkan's extended search for a transaction monitoring vendor that met his requirements failed. Company materials state the business was founded in 2022 and started in Berlin.

Business model

Flagright licenses its compliance platform as software to financial institutions, offered either as a unified platform or as modular components, with deployments the company says can be completed in as little as two weeks. A Flagright Startup Program offers eligible fintech startups free access in year one, a 50% discount in year two and standard pricing in year three.

Software sold to regulated financial institutions, with tiered pricing that includes a discounted multi-year entry path for startups.

Traction

As of the April 2025 seed announcement, Flagright reported more than 50 customers across six continents and a team of 35. By the June 2026 Series A, the company reported more than 100 financial institutions as customers across 30+ countries, with other company materials citing financial institutions in 35+ countries. Publicly named customers and partners include Payhawk, BTSE, Verto, Aspire, Catalyst, Reap, Tipalti, UniCredit in Poland, SME Bank, Betterment, HitPay and Pesawise.

Latest developments

In June 2026 Flagright announced a $12.5M Series A led by Infinity Ventures with participation from Sella Direct Ventures and existing investors Frontline and Y Combinator, earmarked for expanding AI capabilities and US market presence. The company also announced Nacha Preferred Partner status for ACH fraud monitoring and compliance, and a series of customer wins in mid-2026 including Payhawk, BTSE, Verto, Tipalti and UniCredit in Poland.

Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history

Market position

Flagright positions itself as an alternative to legacy AML systems and fragmented point solutions, competing on unification, explainable AI and configurability. It has been named to the RegTech100 for 2026 for a third consecutive year and ranked as the top RegTech on the Sifted 250 list of Europe's fastest-growing startups for 2025.

Company materials emphasize a unified platform rather than a stack of point tools, explainable and auditable AI agents with human oversight, no-code rule configuration with simulation and shadow testing, rapid deployment, and multi-jurisdiction governance covering 35+ jurisdictions in production.

Technology

The platform runs on a centralized high-performance data lake with optimized pipelines, allowing AI agents to correlate large financial datasets in real time while retaining audit trails. Features include a no-code nested scenario builder, natural-language AI rule builder, rule simulation against historical data, shadow rules for risk-free live testing, dynamic risk scoring driven by transaction activity and KYC data, network analysis for fraud rings, and AI agents that convert standard operating procedures into deployable, auditable agents. AML screening integrates data from LSEG and Dow Jones.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales with demo requests, supported by customer case studies, a startup program for early-stage fintechs, partner programs including Nacha Preferred Partner status for ACH fraud monitoring, and hiring across six locations. Series A proceeds are directed at growing enterprise go-to-market coverage of banks, fintechs and credit unions in the US.

Banks and financial institutions, payment processors, digital banks and neobanks, credit unions, brokerages and trusts, crypto and Web3 companies, remittance providers, and fintechs, ranging from startups to global enterprises.

Geography

Offices in Berlin, Singapore and Bangalore, with London (EMEA headquarters), New York and San Francisco added in 2025; the company states it hires across six locations and operates without a traditional headquarters. Customers span 30+ to 35+ countries and six continents.

History

The company was created by Baran Ozkan and Madhu G. Nadig after Ozkan spent 18 months evaluating transaction monitoring vendors without finding a satisfactory solution. Within six months of launch the platform was serving customers on three continents. Flagright announced a $4.3M seed round led by Frontline Ventures in April 2025, alongside the launch of AI Forensics, the Flagright Startup Program, and new offices in London, New York and San Francisco. In June 2026 it announced a $12.5M Series A led by Infinity Ventures to expand explainable AI use cases and its US market presence.

Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
Average time to build a ruleJan 20263 minutes
Compliance cost reductionJun 202680%
Countries of operationJun 202635
CustomersApr 202550 customers
Data processing latencyApr 2025700 milliseconds
EmployeesApr 202535 people
False positive reductionJan 202693%
Financial institution customersJun 2026100 institutions
HeadcountAug 202659
Investigation time reductionJan 202650%
Jurisdictions in productionJan 202635 jurisdictions
Manual monitoring effort reductionApr 202587%
Operational cost savingsJan 202681%
Platform uptimeApr 2025100%
Reduction in operational errorsJan 202627%

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Founder mafia

2 people who came through Flagright went on to found or lead other companies.

Competitors · 6

by search overlap
Comply Advantage736 shared keywordsComplyAdvantage offers a SaaS-based risk intelligence platform for anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime risk management, providing customer screening and transaction monitoring for financial services and compliance teams. Its AI-driven tools support onboarding, ongoing monitoring, remediation, and reporting.
Tookitaki727 shared keywordsTookitaki provides an anti-financial crime platform designed for banks and fintech companies, leveraging community intelligence and real-time responsiveness to detect and prevent financial crimes. The platform uses federated learning and transparent AI frameworks to serve financial institutions across APAC and the Middle East.
Unit 21624 shared keywordsUnit21 provides an AI-powered fraud prevention and AML compliance platform that automates financial crime detection, investigations, and regulatory filing across the full lifecycle. The platform serves fintechs and financial institutions globally with configurable AI agents that reduce false positives and accelerate case resolution while maintaining regulatory defensibility.
Alessa457 shared keywordsAlessa is a SaaS platform for KYC, AML compliance, transaction monitoring and fraud prevention used by financial institutions and corporates.
SEON368 shared keywordsSEON provides a fraud prevention and AML decision-making platform that uses real-time first-party data signals and an AI rules engine to detect fraud and automate compliance across the customer journey. It serves businesses in fintech, payments, eCommerce, and iGaming.
London Stock Exchange Group314 shared keywordsLondon Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) operates a stock exchange and provides financial market data, analytics, indices (FTSE Russell), FX trading, risk intelligence, and post-trade services for investing, trading, and risk management. It serves financial institutions and market participants across capital markets.

Companies competing with Flagright for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

Timeline · 15

launches, deals, and filings
Aug 2026
Flagright becomes a Nacha Preferred Partner for ACH fraud monitoring and compliance

source ↗

Aug 2026
Payhawk extends financial crime monitoring with Flagright

Payhawk selects Flagright for real-time transaction monitoring and watchlist screening across cards, accounts and payments on its spend management platform.

source ↗

Aug 2026
BTSE selects Flagright for AI-driven AML compliance

Digital asset exchange BTSE adopts dynamic risk scoring, real-time watchlist screening and case management.

source ↗

Aug 2026
Verto selects Flagright for real-time transaction monitoring

Deployment across Verto's cross-border payments and FX infrastructure.

source ↗

Aug 2026
Flagright partners with Aspire on AI-driven financial crime compliance

source ↗

Aug 2026
Catalyst selects Flagright for transaction monitoring and AML compliance

source ↗

Jul 2026
UniCredit in Poland selects Flagright for risk-based transaction monitoring

source ↗

Jul 2026
Reap collaborates with Flagright on compliance infrastructure for Mexico and Americas expansion

source ↗

Jul 2026
Tipalti partners with Flagright for AI-powered AML compliance across global payables

source ↗

Jun 2026
Flagright raises $12.5M Series A led by Infinity Ventures

Series A with participation from Sella Direct Ventures and existing investors Frontline and Y Combinator, to expand explainable AI use cases and US market presence.

$12.5M source ↗

Jan 2026
Named #1 RegTech on the Sifted 250 fastest-growing startups list for 2025

source ↗

Jan 2026
Named to the RegTech100 for 2026

Third consecutive year of inclusion in the RegTech100 list.

source ↗

Apr 2025
New offices in London, New York and San Francisco

Flagright added a London EMEA headquarters plus New York and San Francisco offices, complementing existing sites in Berlin, Singapore and Bangalore.

source ↗

Apr 2025
Flagright raises $4.3M seed round led by Frontline Ventures

Seed funding to accelerate AI development, launch AI Forensics and the Flagright Startup Program, and open offices in London, New York and San Francisco.

$4.3M source ↗

Apr 2025
Launch of AI Forensics product family

A family of AI agents automating compliance workflows for screening, monitoring, governance and quality assurance; AI Forensics for Screening is cited as delivering 93% false positive reduction and 80% faster investigations.

source ↗

Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.

In the news

Research sources · 8

primary sources listed

8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Flagright do?
Flagright sells an AI-based financial crime compliance platform covering transaction monitoring, screening, risk scoring and case management.
Who founded Flagright?
Flagright was founded by Baran Özkan, Madhu G. Nadig, Madhu G Nadig in 2021.
Who are Flagright's investors?
Flagright's investors include Frontline Ventures, Infinity Ventures, Moonfire Ventures, Y Combinator.
How much funding has Flagright raised?
Flagright has disclosed $25M raised across 2 of its 4 known rounds.
Where is Flagright headquartered?
Flagright is headquartered in San Francisco, US.