Circit adapts open banking to the audit world

Circit is an Irish fintech that wants to centralise the auditing business through Open Banking. A forerunner in this niche, Circit announced today that it has completed a €6.5 billion Series A funding round.

FACTS

• The investment is co-led by specialist investment funds Aquiline Technology Growth (ATG) and MiddleGame Ventures (MGV).

• Founded in 2017, Circit helps auditors verify company assets and liabilities in real time, and at source, through a connection to company accounts via open banking.

• It is aimed at accounting firms and relies on a network of banks, lawyers, large companies and SMEs that have joined the platform. The platform interfaces with the auditors when validating the accounting processes of an audit.

• Circit's customers include the Big Four accounting firms and 19 of the top 20 accounting networks in most European countries. The company announces its intention to expand its activities in the UK and Ireland and to double its staff from 35 to 70 over the next 12 months.

CHALLENGES

• Disrupting audit control: Circit's platform automates the obtaining of accounting evidence, reducing both risk and audit time from weeks to minutes. The platform thus frees auditors from time-consuming manual processes.

• Relying on open banking to integrate part of the value chain: Integrating accounting processes through open banking is gaining momentum among fintech players. And, even if its application within the accounting verification of audit operations is a first, the company already sees possibilities for further development of its solution, by integrating it with payment players.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Last year in the UK, Circit acquired Audapio, a technology company that builds data analysis tools for financial audit and fraud monitoring.

• And in February this year, it signed an agreement with Danske Bank UK to integrate its technology into the bank's audit confirmation operations.