Kertos secures 14 million euros in Series A round

The Munich-based startup Kertos, provider of a platform for AI-based compliance, has closed a Series A financing round of 14 million euros. The round is led by global fintech investor Portage. Existing backers PiLabs, Redstone, 10x Founders and seed + speed Ventures also participated again.

AI-powered compliance for the European market

Kertos is developing an AI-native platform that supports companies in efficiently fulfilling regulatory requirements. The aim is to automate complex and recurring tasks in the areas of compliance, security and governance. According to the company, Kertos already serves hundreds of customers, including Personio, Blacklane, NeoTaste and Pliant.

The trust of our new and existing investors is a great confirmation of our impact on the European compliance market.

Dr. Kilian Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Kertos

Automation from risk analysis to audit readiness

The platform covers the entire compliance workflow: from the recording and assessment of risks to the creation of documentation and monitoring. Thanks to AI agents, audit readiness should be achieved within a few days. This also applies to ISO 27001, ISO 42001, SOC 2, GDPR and the European AI Act, for example.

Investors also see potential: Hélène Falchier, Partner at Portage, emphasizes that Kertos sets new standards for compliance software and creates an infrastructure for modern governance.

Focus on European regulation

With its approach, Kertos specifically addresses the special requirements of European regulation. The offering is aimed equally at start-ups and scale-ups that need to meet compliance requirements quickly, SMEs that want to automate manual processes and corporations that want to replace fragmented processes with AI-supported solutions.

Kertos sees itself as a"compliance engine for Europe". The platform integrates into existing IT landscapes, identifies assets, provides real-time insights, automatically creates documentation and provides support with certifications. The company aims to significantly reduce compliance costs and make companies fit for complex regulatory requirements.

As Startbase, we are generally in favor of less compliance and a significant reduction in bureaucracy, but if startups can alleviate certain pain points for companies in this area, this is to be welcomed. Perhaps the next logical step would be to only establish compliance regulations that can be handled automatically by companies.