Gecko Governance raises $1m seed investment to speed up expansion

18 Jan 2018

From left: Gecko Governance team members Andris Macs, Damien Cahill and Shane Brett. Image: Gecko Governance

Gecko Governance will use its latest investment to accelerate global expansion.

Regtech player Gecko Governance is behind a suite of blockchain-integrated technology products that allow fund managers and banks to schedule end-to-end compliance and regulatory tasks, all from a single platform.

It has today (18 January) announced a $1m seed investment from Cosimo Ventures.

Global expansion on the cards

“This investment will help to accelerate the global expansion of Gecko Governance as it pioneers a new market for regtech in financial services through its blockchain solution,” said Ciaran Hynes, managing partner at Cosimo Ventures.

Hynes added: “We are pleased to support this innovative team as part of our investment strategy to build and grow new deep-technology companies that offer unique solutions for commercial markets.”

The start-up has offices in New York and Sydney, but its main base is in Dundalk, Co Louth.

A former Start-up of the Week on Siliconrepublic.com, Gecko Governance previously won the 2016 Seedcorn competition, Europe’s largest start-up prize. It also secured 10th place on the 2017 RegTech 100 list, a global ranking of the most influential regtech firms.

Blockchain innovators

Co-founder and CEO of Gecko Governance, Shane Brett, said: “Our blockchain solution is agile and fully customisable, allowing us to integrate with each financial services firm’s systems and set of best practices.

“Blockchain is the future for regulatory and compliance in financial services, and we are pleased to have Cosimo Ventures’ support as we expand to meet growing demand in this sector.”

Cosimo Ventures specialises in transforming deep-technology companies into global industry leaders, and has offices in Boston, New York and Dublin. It specialises in sectors such as virtual reality, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and the internet of things, among others.

In 2016, Brett told Siliconrepublic.com where he saw Gecko Governance heading in the next few years: “Five years from now, we anticipate having 40-plus clients worldwide with offices in Dublin, London, New York, Hong Kong and Sydney, and revenues of €8-10m per year.”

Ellen Tannam was a journalist with Silicon Republic, covering all manner of business and tech subjects

editorial@siliconrepublic.com