TrueLayer, the fintech developer platform that provides easy access to bank APIs,  has secured $3 million in series A funding. This follows a successful beta testing phase which garnered strong interest from developers including many from high growth fintechs and renowned brands. The round was led by Anthemis Group, whose partner, Yann Ranchere, will join TrueLayer’s board. Existing investor Connect Ventures, with partner Pietro Bezza, also participated in the round. 

TrueLayer is an API platform that offers developers an easy way to access the bank data they need to build new financial apps and services, helping startups and banks alike to drive innovation in financial services. TrueLayer supports account verification, KYC processes, and transactional data for account aggregation, credit scoring and risk assessment.

Since the launch of the private beta in February, TrueLayer has seen hundreds of developers sign up to its service. The Series A funding will be used by TrueLayer to help the company expand its team and increase its coverage of supported banks before moving the API to general availability later in the year.

In the coming months, TrueLayer will also build out its offering as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) and Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) in line with the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). As such, TrueLayer developers will benefit from open banking services including access to aggregated customer banking data and payment initiation while enhancing security and privacy of consumers. In addition, TrueLayer plans to roll out compliance-as-a-service features to make it easier for developers and fintechs to access bank APIs within regulatory parameters while also drastically reducing the cost of compliance and operations.

TrueLayer was co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Francesco Simoneschi and Luca Martinetti. The Silicon Valley veterans previously co-founded Staq which (acquired by Upsight) and DomainsBot, now part of the German group Sedo Holding Gmbh. 

TrueLayer is available in the UK and will expand into other EU countries in 2018. The API is free to solo developers and early stage startups, with volume-based pricing and metered billing available to large applications and enterprises.

 "The future of bank APIs isn’t yet straightforward; TrueLayer was born with a mission to remove the barriers that exist between consumers and innovative financial products. PSD2 will provide a clear regulatory framework and enhanced consumer protection. But although it will help to create greater collaboration and innovation, there are still many technology challenges that the industry needs to solve. Frictionless user experience and security are paramount going forward,” said Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder of TrueLayer. 

“TrueLayer is committed to delivering the best possible user and developer experience, reducing the barrier-to-entry for fintechs that want to leverage the opportunities of open banking while still providing a secure and streamlined experience for consumers. The new funding will help us to accelerate the growth of our team, expand our product coverage and reach into markets."

Yann Ranchere, partner at Anthemis Group, said: “We are excited to support the TrueLayer team in their ambition to bring developer-driven solutions to the emerging banking API ecosystem. Europe is at the forefront of new regulation driving access to banking infrastructure and will be home to a growing number of startups and corporations looking to build on top of this API layer. We believe TrueLayer is uniquely positioned to provide the best secure, reliable and scalable technical platform and consumer-driven privacy frameworks for the industry. We look forward to supporting TrueLayer in building the leading European API platform for fintech developers.” 

Pietro Bezza, Managing Partner Connect Ventures, said: “We were the first to back Francesco and Luca and the accelerated progress achieved by the company is a confirmation of the need for TrueLayer’s product in the market and the strength and fit of the founding team. Banking services are long overdue a shakeup and the first step is empowering fintech applications to connect with banks through a superior developer experience. TrueLayer does this and much more.”