Estonian Regtech company Salv has successfully secured €3.9 million in new funding, aimed at facilitating its expansion into the UK market.
This funding round features contributions from both new and existing investors, bringing the total capital raised this year to €7.9 million, with an overall funding total of €12.1 million. Established in 2019, Salv was co-founded by former anti-money laundering specialists from Skype and Wise—Taavi Tamkivi and Jeff McClelland—along with Wise’s former software engineer, Sergei Rumjantsev. Salv offers a range of products designed to detect, prevent, and combat fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
The firm serves 53 financial institutions across 12 countries, including notable providers such as LHV Bank, Swedbank, and SEB. These institutions utilize Salv’s services for customer and sanctions screening, as well as real-time monitoring of incoming and outgoing transactions and risk scoring.
The newly acquired investment will support Salv’s efforts to establish a presence in the UK, where there has been a marked increase in Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. This type of fraud often involves criminals using social engineering to impersonate trusted entities, tricking consumers or businesses into transferring funds to their accounts. Beginning next year, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator plans to implement mandatory reimbursements for APP fraud victims, holding both sending and receiving payment companies equally liable.
Tamkivi emphasizes that many banks and payment firms have primarily focused on outbound transaction monitoring, neglecting the importance of monitoring inbound transactions. He considers the impending regulatory changes as a significant opportunity for growth. “As the UK moves towards shared responsibility for APP fraud refunds, financial institutions must adapt. Our suite, particularly the inbound monitoring feature, is essential for detecting fraudulent activities and money mule accounts, thereby reducing financial institutions’ liability,” he explains. This feature, coupled with tools like their Bridge platform, is designed to address evolving regulatory requirements. Additionally, an AI-based no-code rule generator set to launch in Q2 next year will allow institutions to quickly adapt to emerging criminal behaviors.
Currently undergoing final testing, the AI-based no-code rule generator is designed to facilitate the implementation of new transaction monitoring rules without the need for developer assistance. Salv’s toolkit also includes Bridge, a GDPR-compliant collaborative platform that promotes rapid information exchange among its members. In Estonia, the Bridge network plays a crucial role in covering 99% of the market, helping to prevent half of all fraud cases and achieving recovery rates as high as 80% for victims of APP fraud. These outcomes significantly outperform the UK’s estimated recovery baseline of just five percent. Tamkivi announces plans to initiate a closed pilot of a similar Bridge network in the UK in collaboration with a global banking group early next year.