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AI-Powered Financial Crime Prevention Platform Silent Eight Prepares for IPO

IPO

Singapore-based company Silent Eight, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to combat financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing, reportedly aims to be ready for an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2025. 

The firm aspires to list on the Nasdaq in the United States, Silent Eight CEO Martin Markiewicz told CNBC in a report posted Friday (Sept. 22).

By automating and streamlining the investigation process, Silent Eight aims to revolutionize the way financial institutions tackle illicit activities, while reducing costs and ensuring regulatory compliance, according to the report. 

Major banks, including Standard Chartered and HSBC, have already taken notice of Silent Eight’s AI-powered software, which is expected to achieve threefold revenue growth in 2023, the report said.

By leveraging AI technology, Silent Eight aims to transform the fight against financial crime, per the report.

Traditionally, investigating financial crimes has been a labor-intensive and time-consuming process for banks, according to the report. However, Silent Eight’s AI models are designed to automate and expedite these investigations, significantly reducing the resources required.

The company’s software utilizes generative AI, similar to the technology behind the viral ChatGPT chatbot, the report said. Silent Eight’s model is trained on several smaller models specific to different tasks, allowing it to provide a comprehensive solution for financial institutions, including identifying discrepancies in names across languages.

Silent Eight’s success can be attributed to its strategic partnerships with prominent financial institutions, per the report. Standard Chartered became the first bank to adopt the company’s software in 2017, providing Silent Eight with access to crucial risk management data. As more banks have joined, Silent Eight’s AI models have become more advanced, enhancing the detection and prevention of financial crimes. 

One of the key advantages of Silent Eight’s AI-powered software is its cost effectiveness, according to the report. Markiewicz emphasized that the software is significantly cheaper than employing a large team of human investigators.

When announcing the close of a $40 million Series B funding round in March 2022, Silent Eight said the company was born out of desire to deal with the “human cost” of financial crime as the number of victims is rising.

“Meanwhile, bad actors continue to be savvy and creative in their endeavors to slip through the net,” the company said at the time. “It is our goal to provide a technology solution that prevents them from engaging in the global economy and profiting off of those most vulnerable.”

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