The software of Silent Eight helps financial institutions in fighting financial crime. It means automatically detect them, enforce sanctions, and act according to applicable regulations. The new technology is already used by the world’s largest banks, such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. When others join them, the Silent Eight has a chance to become a unicorn. Where is it from? It is a Singaporean company founded by three Poles.
The three founders of the company had a small energy company in Poland 15 years earlier. Still, when the business did not work out, they decided to emigrate to Singapore. Nevertheless, they had no idea what they would do there. However, two of them had worked in one of the Polish Software Houses before. So they thought about creating innovative software for corporations.
They quickly realized that while searching for content on the Internet is simple and structured, digging through the internal information resources of companies is not. When it turned out that there was a demand for this “Google for corporations,” they began to turn the idea into a technology for the banking sector. Such that would deal with the problem of ensuring compliance of financial institutions with the applicable standards. The company’s founders had no idea at the time how banks counteract money laundering or terrorist financing. Still, when they saw how it was done in several entities, they concluded that it could be done more effectively for less money.
First big client
They started their work in 2013 by designing an engine for searching data within the organization. With the help of which a compliance analyst could easily find information on suspicious clients or transactions. However, understanding that you don’t have to do it personally hit the bull’s eye. It required intelligent software to analyze evidence in real-time and then draw conclusions.
When it was created, Silent Eight went with it to Standard Chartered. It was one of the largest international banks in Asia, which just happened to face a massive fine of $1.1B. It was for conducting transactions in violation of sanctions imposed on Iran and other countries. The US Department of Justice gave the bank five years to implement a recovery program successfully. Building an appropriate security system was a priority for him. It was because even one overlooked piece of information in a million data could be the source of a global scandal. At Standard Chartered, dozens of data analysts struggled with this problem. And dozens of startups that came up with a supposed solution to the problem were left empty-handed. After a series of tests and consultations with the regulator, only the Silent Eight solution was the one the bank dared to implement.
Five years have passed since the company’s establishment to the commercial implementation of its product for banks. However, thanks to the sale of technology to Standard Chartered, today the startup can boast over 25 implementations in over 70 countries. Each of which involves the conclusion of a several-year contract worth several dozen million dollars. At the end of 2022, the startup reached tens of millions of dollars in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Next more $40M
Is it any wonder then that the Poles company is now sought after by investors? Startups learned in the JFDI.Asia accelerator. But the company’s first serious money began to appear after 2018. The last one was in May 2022, when they closed another financing round for $40M. Thanks to it, Silent Eight increased employment from 50 to 150 people and redesigned the organization’s architecture. It was attended by all significant current venture capital shareholders. There were Polish OTB Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and SC Ventures – the investment arm of Standard Chartered. However, the creators of Silent Eight regularly reject all acquisition proposals. Why? Because they realize that in some time, their company may be worth tens of billions of dollars.
Read more here about Braight, a fintech platform from Poland.