July 8, 2025 — Castellum.AI CUSO, the only financial crime compliance platform with in-house risk data, AML/KYC screening and AI agents, announced the close of an oversubscribed $8.5m Series A round. 

The round was led by Curql, a fund backed by over 130 credit unions including Navy Federal, with participation from BTech Consortium, a fund backed by over a dozen banks including Customers Bank, and Framework Venture Partners, a fund backed by Tier 1 Canadian financial institutions including RBC. Existing investors from Spider Capital, Remarkable Ventures and Cameron Ventures also participated in the round.

“Credit unions face the dual threat of criminals using AI and legacy systems generating unnecessary compliance alerts on a daily basis,” said Nick Evans, President and CEO of Curql. “We’re excited to invest in Castellum.AI because they’re deploying AI agents that are fast, precise and explainable to regulators. Credit unions need access to next-generation technology to keep up and Castellum.AI is exactly what the doctor ordered.”

Castellum.AI’s fincrime platform reduces AML/KYC false positives by 94% and reduces the time spent on compliance reviews by 83% out of the box - before any tuning. This is why forward-looking compliance teams are phasing out outdated tools in favor of solutions that improve both efficiency and oversight.  

Validated and Trained: Castellum.AI Agent Passes FinCrime Exam On The First Try

Castellum.AI’s AI agents have passed a CAMS practice exam on the first try. Passing the CAMS exam is often a requirement for certain fincrime roles. The AI agent training was led by ex-regulators and included AML/KYC best practices and regulatory guidance from the OCC, NCUA, NY DFS, California DFPI and other financial services regulators. We have reached out to ACAMS to have our AI agent take an exam in a proctored setting and receive an official CAMS certification, but have not heard back at the time of publishing of this press release. 

Combined with detailed audit records covering each decision, institutions have the confidence to deploy an AI agent that aligns with regulatory expectations to the front lines of financial crime prevention.

Providing Value to Credit Union Compliance Teams

“We’re excited to partner with credit union compliance teams who are dedicated to onboarding members more quickly and unblocking transactions,” says Castellum.AI CEO and Co-Founder Peter Piatetsky. “We have a registered CUSO to streamline the acquisition process for credit unions so they can access the value that other financial institutions have already experienced with Castellum.AI.”

• A leading sponsor bank reduced their AML/KYC review costs by 88%

• A community bank reduced transaction screening false positive rates by 94%

• A Fortune 50 corporation reduced Level 1 KYC alerts by 83%

Castellum.AI provides clients direct oversight of their compliance process. The company’s patented data collection and machine learning enrichment process collects sanctions, PEPs, adverse media and other risk data from original sources. This data feeds Castellum.AI’s screening and monitoring system to notify clients of their risk exposure in real time.

“By embedding AI into our platform we’ve enabled AI summaries for global adverse media that dramatically reduce review times, AI-powered enrichments that categorize unstructured data in real-time, AI agents that review alerts - and more,” says Peter.

Reducing Switching Costs, Speeding Up Implementations

The company also works with clients on modular implementations that incorporate each institution's risk requirements and procedures, reducing switching costs. 

“One of the biggest pain points for institutions is the switching cost of changing providers. Castellum.AI’s ability to layer AI agents on top of existing tools - working with, not against a client’s tech stack, gave us the confidence in their ability to rapidly support clients,” says Ajay Gopal, a partner at Framework Venture Partners.

About Castellum.AI 

Castellum.AI is the only financial crimes compliance platform with in-house risk data, AML/KYC screening and AI agents. Backed by investors representing over 130 credit unions and banks, Castellum.AI enables compliance teams to scale their operations while maintaining precision, accountability and oversight.