About AscentAI
AscentAI is a Financial Services company based in Chicago (United States) founded in 2015 by Brian Clark, and was acquired by Edgewater Capital in January 2024. AscentAI is focused on AI-driven regulatory compliance automation. It operates on a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model in Financial Services and Technology sectors. AscentAI has raised $26.74 million across 3 funding rounds from investors including The University of Chicago, Natural Power and ING Ventures. The company has 4 employees. AscentAI has completed 1 acquisition, including WaymarkTech. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Christopher Junker. AscentAI offers products and services including AscentHorizon and AscentFocus. Its focus areas include RegTech and Compliance Solutions. Its legal entity is Ascent Technologies. Its competitors include Zscaler, PayPal and Palantir; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
AscentAI is engaged in providing AI-driven solutions for regulatory compliance automation. The company operates within the RegTech sector, serving financial institutions such as banks, broker-dealers, and FinTech firms. Its platforms, including AscentHorizon and AscentFocus, are designed to streamline global horizon scanning, change management, and obligation tracking. Coverage spans 98 countries with data from 1000 sources, managing over 400,000 obligations. Solutions are integrated with leading GRC platforms to enhance compliance, reduce costs, and improve enterprise-wide decision-making.
- Headquarters Chicago, United States
- Employees 4
- Founders Brian Clark
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsFinancial ServicesTechnology
- Emailβ’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’
- Website ascentregtech.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by Natural Power (Feb 2019)
- Legal Name Ascent Technologies
- Total Equity Funding$26.74M (USD)
in 3 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$19.3M (USD), Series B
Nov 2019
- InvestorsThe University of Chicago
& 9 more
- Employee Count4
- Investments & Acquisitions
- Acquired by
Products & Services of AscentAI
AscentAI offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including AscentHorizon and AscentFocus.
Global horizon scanning for real-time regulatory content.
Automates change management for regulatory obligation inventory.
Funding Insights of AscentAI
AscentAI has successfully raised a total of $26.74M across 3 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $19.3 million completed in November 2019. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $26.74M
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Series B β $19.3M
- First Round $1.44M
(Sep 2016)
- Investors Count 8
All 3 funding rounds of AscentAI with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2019 | $19.3M | Series B | β | Drive Capital | |
| Mar 2018 | $6M | Series A | β | Alsop Louie Partners | |
| Sep 2016 | $1.44M | Seed | β | β | β |
10 investors in total: 8 institutional and 2 angel.
Investors in AscentAI
AscentAI has secured backing from 10 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include The University of Chicago, Natural Power and ING Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed stage investments | drivecapital.com | Columbus, United States | ||
Early-stage technology venture capital firm specializing in risk-oriented investments with a humanist approach. | alsop-louie.com | |||
Fintech startups are accelerated via a 6-month investment program. | accelerator.wf.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Venture Capital firm backed by ING | 1991 | ing.com/About-us/ING-Ventures.htm | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
Diversified investments are managed by Washington D.C. family office. | temeritycap.com | Washington, Dc, United States | ||
Academic programs and research are provided across diverse fields. | 1890 | uchicago.edu | United States | |
Renewable energy projects are managed with analytical and engineering support. | 1995 | naturalpower.com | Castle Douglas, United Kingdom | |
RK Randall Kroszner | unknown_a515f211372846bda | |||
DM Douglas Monieson | Angel investor and entrepreneur, focused on Indian startups and technology innovation. | unknown_c23d3cb40a5d4a7bb | ||
A private equity firm focused on performance materials is operated. | edgewatercapital.com | Cleveland, United States |
Investor details for AscentAI
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People of AscentAI
17 people are tracked at AscentAI (9 in leadership, 8 in team); the tracked headcount is 4.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Brian Clark | Founder | Leadership |
Christopher Junker | CEO | Leadership |
Andy Jenks | Director | Leadership |
Alexandra Lehr | Director, Regulatory Intelligence | Leadership |
Ellen Krueger | Director, Customer Experience | Leadership |
Robb Verna | Sr. Director Of Marketing | Leadership |
Kris Craw | Director, Product Management | Leadership |
Mark Holmes | Director, Global Regulatory Compliance And Technology | Leadership |
Ed Lloyd | Managing Director | Leadership |
Diana Silva | Senior Customer Success Manager | Team |
Dana A. | Customer Success Manager | Team |
Elizabeth McHugh | Regulatory Intelligence Analyst | Team |
Jasmine Ortega | Project Manager | Team |
Maddie H. | Marketing Manager | Team |
Wesley Heap | Manager, Regulatory Solutions & Customer Experience | Team |
Nicholas Defilippis | Senior Account Executive | Team |
Esther Furger | Digitalstrategin | Team |
Complete people profiles for AscentAI
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- Full employee list
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Investments & Acquisitions by AscentAI
AscentAI has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include WaymarkTech.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Automated regulatory compliance is facilitated by cloud-based platform. | waymark.tech | London, United Kingdom | 2016 | Feb 2024 | β’β’β’β’ |
Complete acquisition details for AscentAI
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Timeline of AscentAI
6 dated milestones of AscentAI across 9 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded AscentAI is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $1.4M.
- Exit Acquired by Natural Power.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $19.3M.
- Exit Acquired by Edgewater Capital.
- Acquisition Acquires WaymarkTech.
Competitors of AscentAI
AscentAI has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Zscaler, PayPal and Palantir.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zscaler.com | 2007 | San Jose, United States | $148M | 7,348 | Cybersecurity and zero trust solutions are delivered for secure networks. | |
| paypal.com | 1998 | San Jose, United States | $216M | 27,200 | Online payment solutions are offered to consumers and businesses. | |
| palantir.com | 2003 | Denver, United States | $2.46B | 3,936 | Platform that provides data analysis and management solutions |
Detailed competitors of AscentAI
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Web traffic of AscentAI
The website of AscentAI (ascentregtech.com) receives about 7.8K visits a month.
- Monthly visits7.8K
▼ 14.9% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with AscentAI. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| innreg.com | 100% | 26.7K | #1,133,440 | View details | |
| fintech.global | 90% | 188.4K | #260,629 | View details | |
radicalcompliance.com | radicalcompliance.com | 78% | #3,020,578 | β | |
| complianceweek.com | 57% | 42K | #816,985 | View details |
Top companies in Regulatory & Compliance Tech
3 companies that operate in the same segment as AscentAI (Regulatory & Compliance Tech) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CLEAR is focused on secure identity verification for seamless experiences. | 2010 | New York, New York, United States | USD 135 M | USD 900.78 M | 4,019 | |
AI-based fraud prevention for e-commerce payments is provided. | 2013 | New York, New York, United States | USD 232.02 M | USD 346.08 M | 724 | |
Compliance management solutions for financial institutions | 2014 | New York, New York, United States | USD 461 M | 815 |
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Related news about Ascentai
Complete news archive for AscentAI
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Frequently Asked Questions about AscentAI
AscentAI was founded in 2015 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
AscentAI is headquartered in Chicago, United States. It is registered at Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Christopher Junker is the CEO of AscentAI, as recorded in our data.
AscentAI is a funded company, having raised a total of $26.74M across 3 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $1.44M, raised on Sep 2016.
AscentAI has 4 employees.
AscentAI is engaged in providing AI-driven solutions for regulatory compliance automation. The company operates within the RegTech sector, serving financial institutions such as banks, broker-dealers, and FinTech firms. Its platforms, including AscentHorizon and AscentFocus, are designed to streamline global horizon scanning, change management, and obligation tracking. Coverage spans 98 countries with data from 1000 sources, managing over 400,000 obligations. Solutions are integrated with leading GRC platforms to enhance compliance, reduce costs, and improve enterprise-wide decision-making.
AscentAI offers AscentHorizon and AscentFocus.
AscentAI has made 1 acquisition, including WaymarkTech.
AscentAI has 10 investors. Key investors include The University of Chicago, Natural Power, ING Ventures, Drive Capital, and Alsop Louie Partners.
AscentAI operates through Ascent Technologies.
Yes. AscentAI was acquired by Natural Power in February 2019.

