EMEA Daily: Flutterwave Denies Kenyan Regulator’s AML Claims; UAE Government Employees Offered Year Paid Leave to Start Businesses

In today’s top news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), AML software firm Lucinity has raises $17 million, Flutterwave denies wrongdoing and Airbnb debuts a new feature.

Lucinity Raises $17 Million in Series B

Anti-money laundering software developer Lucinity has raised $17 million in a Series B funding round.

The Reykjavic-based FinTech makes AI-powered anti-fraud and anti-money laundering (AML) tools.

Calling its approach “human AI,” Lucinity believes that machine learning and data science should exist to complement the work of human security professionals, rather than replace it.

Lucinity’s technology creates interpretable and intuitive displays of AI-generated data. Comprising tools for transaction monitoring, actor intelligence and a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) monitor, the AML platform emphasizes the synergy between humans and AI and the necessity for the two to work together to fight money laundering.

Flutterwave Denies Kenyan Regulator’s AML Claims

Digital payments FinTech Flutterwave has denied any wrongdoing after a court in Kenya froze its bank accounts.

As Bloomberg News reported Thursday (July 7), Kenya’s High Court has locked the company out of its 52 multi-currency accounts, which are spread across three banks and hold more than $40 million.

The court’s ruling was based on an application from the Assets Recovery Agency under anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The court’s order says Flutterwave is barred from “transacting, withdrawing, transferring” the money for 90 days.

Airbnb Launches Historical Homes Category in Europe

Airbnb is debuting a new feature, called Historical Homes, to capitalize on the demand for heritage-related travel and make it easier for guests to find older places to stay, the company announced Thursday (July 7).

In addition, the company has rolled out its Heritage Academy in France, Italy and Spain, which provides potential hosts with a toolkit and a personal Host ambassador to help them train to become a host for one of these homes.

UAE Government Employees Offered Year Paid Leave to Start Businesses

In a move to encourage entrepreneurialism in the country, government-employed citizens of the United Arab Emirates will now be able to take up to a year’s leave to start their own business ventures, the government announced on Thursday (July 7).

Government employees that take the leave opportunity will retain their jobs and still receive half their salaries.

ArK Kapital Doubles its Pool of Funds

Stockholm-based startup ArK Kapital announced today (Jul 7) that it has secured an additional 150 million euros in funding, meaning it now has a capital pool of 300 million euros.

ArK Kapital is a data-driven precision finance company, that aims to provide non-dilutive loans of 1 million to 10 million euros to startups in a range of sectors. The company has developed a proprietary AI platform — the ArK Intelligence Machine (AIM), which combines company data with external market data to generate business intelligence and strategic foresight.