Kord, a London-headquartered FinTech offering a single platform for client onboarding, identity checks and payments, has closed a £6.4m Series A round to tackle AI-enabled fraud and streamline transactions across regulated sectors.
Guinness Ventures headed the investment, which also drew backing from Beringea, SFC Capital and a group of angel investors. The raise lifts Kord’s cumulative funding to £9m, with the fresh capital earmarked for expanding the team and accelerating product development as the firm pursues new customers.
The company points to the significant economic damage caused when major transactions, such as house purchases or legal settlements, collapse because of administrative bottlenecks. In the UK, more than half a million housing deals fail each year, generating a £950m blow to the economy and £560m in costs to consumers, it said.
Kord’s answer is to let firms in regulated markets verify identities and finalise transactions digitally, removing the delays that legacy systems create. Rather than firms juggling multiple disconnected tools, the platform brings together ID verification, AML and compliance screening, onboarding, document signing and payment processing in one place, helping clients cut costs, onboard faster and remain compliant as regulation evolves.
Authorised by the FCA, Kord serves estate agents and letting agents, law firms and conveyancers, and financial services businesses. Its infrastructure covers the entire transaction lifecycle, offering secure digital wallets and dedicated bank accounts that allow law firms and other regulated organisations to hold client funds safely. Built around APIs for straightforward integration, the platform also tackles AI-driven fraud by checking client documents against a wider pool of data sources.
The business recently rebranded its B2B arm to Kord, while its consumer app will continue operating under the Checkboard name.
Kord CEO and founder James Owusu said, “For firms in regulated industries, relying on fragmented legacy systems that fail to meet the demands of modern digital commerce slows transaction speeds and increases risk. We created Kord to change that. Our modular tech stack is built with independent, interchangeable components, enabling flexibility and adaptability for our clients as we scale. This new funding allows us to protect more businesses and develop new capabilities. I’m incredibly excited for our next stage of growth.”
Guinness Ventures chief investment officer Malcolm King said, “Every high-value transaction depends on trust, yet the systems underpinning many regulated industries remain fragmented, manual and increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated fraud.
“Kord has built the infrastructure layer that modern businesses need: combining identity verification, compliance and payments into a single platform that dramatically improves both security and efficiency. We were impressed by the ambition of James and the team, their pace of execution and the scale of the opportunity ahead. We believe Kord has the potential to define this category in the UK and beyond, and we’re delighted to lead this round.”
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