European Fintechs Turn to Unified Compliance Platforms Amid Regulatory Overhaul

A €12 million funding round for Bits Technology highlights growing pressure on European financial institutions to modernize their anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud detection systems. The Swedish compliance platform, founded by former Klarna and AWS executives, aims to solve a persistent bottleneck in European fintech expansion: fragmented compliance requirements across jurisdictions that force companies to rebuild their compliance operations market by market.

The Series A financing, led by Alstin Capital with participation from Cherry Ventures, Unusual Ventures, and Alliance Ventures, comes as the European Union moves toward centralized AML supervision under the new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). Investors and industry experts suggest many banks and fintechs may need to re-evaluate whether their existing compliance technology can meet heightened regulatory expectations.

Background and Context

European financial institutions operating across borders face a complex patchwork of national regulations, data sources, and compliance requirements. Compliance teams typically rely on multiple fragmented systems—local data providers, market-specific setups, and manual reviews—that slow customer onboarding and significantly increase operational costs. This fragmentation creates particular challenges for fintech companies seeking rapid expansion across multiple European markets.

The regulatory landscape is undergoing fundamental transformation with the EU's implementation of a single AML rulebook and establishment of AMLA, designed to harmonize supervision across member states. These changes are forcing financial institutions to reconsider their compliance infrastructure, particularly those relying on legacy systems or market-specific solutions that may not scale effectively under the new regulatory framework.

Key Figures and Entities

Bits Technology was founded in 2022 by former operators from Klarna, AWS, and Tink, positioning itself as a compliance infrastructure provider that can scale across borders. The company reports customers including Qliro, Alisa Bank, and Walley using its platform to modernize end-to-end compliance processes.

The funding round was led by Alstin Capital, with participation from venture firms Cherry Ventures, Unusual Ventures, and Alliance Ventures. Haval van Drumpt, Chief Executive of Tre Sweden, also participated as an individual investor. According to Alexander Meyer-Scharenberg, Principal at Alstin Capital, "compliance is becoming a platform challenge, which cannot be addressed by point-solutions." He noted that with the EU's move toward a single AML rulebook, "expectations are rising and many institutions will need to re-evaluate whether their compliance technology remains fit for purpose."

Legal and Financial Mechanisms

The Bits platform consolidates multiple compliance functions into a single integration, connecting to European company registries, beneficial ownership data, Politically Exposed Person (PEP) and sanctions lists, and fraud signals. The system provides automated decisioning and unified case management, replacing the fragmented approach that many institutions currently employ.

According to the company, customers using the platform have reduced manual case handling by 50 to 70 percent, while onboarding and approval times are 4 to 6 times faster. This efficiency allows compliance teams to focus human review resources on higher risk cases rather than routine approvals. The platform supports Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) workflows across more than 100 jurisdictions.

International Implications and Policy Response

The emergence of unified compliance platforms reflects broader shifts in how financial institutions approach regulatory technology. As cross-border digital banking and fintech services expand, the limitations of market-specific compliance solutions become increasingly apparent. The EU's movement toward centralized supervision through AMLA suggests that future compliance systems will need to demonstrate consistent decisioning and auditability across jurisdictions.

Jonatan Klintberg, CEO and co-founder of Bits, stated that the company "built Bits to make compliance a growth enabler rather than a bottleneck." This perspective reflects a growing recognition among financial institutions that effective compliance systems must support business expansion rather than constrain it—particularly important for European companies competing in the global digital finance market.

Sources

This report draws on the company's funding announcement, investor statements, and information about European AML regulatory developments. The EU's establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority represents the most significant regulatory shift in European financial supervision in recent years, with full implementation expected through 2026.