$56M to Fight Fraud with AI — Meet Hawk, the Fintech on a Mission

What if I told you that one company is doubling the detection of novel financial crimes, slashing false positives, and doing it all without ripping out legacy systems?

That’s exactly what Hawk, a Munich-based fintech, is doing—and they just raised a fresh $56 million in Series C funding to keep going.

🚨 Fighting Financial Crime with AI (For Real)

If you’ve been around compliance teams or fraud detection units, you know the grind:
Mountains of false positives, expensive manual reviews, and systems that miss modern fraud tactics.

Hawk is changing that.

Founded in 2018, Hawk provides AI-powered anti-money laundering (AML), screening, and fraud prevention tools. The startup already works with over 80 financial institutions—from Tier 1 banks to fintechs—and it’s got bold ambitions to rewrite the rules of compliance.

Their new funding round was led by One Peak, with participation from major names like Macquarie Capital, Rabobank, BlackFin, Sands Capital, and more. This brings Hawk’s total raised to a solid $190M+.

🧠 From Rules to Intelligence

Traditional AML and fraud systems rely on rigid rule-based detection—if X happens, then Y alert is triggered. But criminals are evolving faster than these static systems.

Hawk’s approach? Let machine learning and generative AI do the heavy lifting.

• ✅ Alert accuracy nearing 90%

• ❌ False positives reduced to under 15%

• 🕵️‍♂️ 2x more novel crimes detected

This isn't just a performance upgrade—it’s a transformation in how financial institutions can scale risk operations without ballooning compliance teams.

CEO Tobias Schweiger sums it up well:

💡 No Rip-and-Replace Required

One of Hawk’s smartest moves is building an AML AI Overlay—a plug-and-play solution that works with existing systems.

Instead of overhauling legacy infrastructure (a massive hurdle in banking), Hawk layers intelligence on top of it. The result? Immediate improvements in accuracy and efficiency, without the IT nightmare.

Their Chief Product Officer Wolfgang Berner explains:

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🚀 Momentum That’s Hard to Ignore

Hawk’s 2024 is off to a fast start:

• 🧠 Launched their AML AI Overlay product

• 👨‍💻 Appointed Ben Pannier (ex-Tide, Zalando, PayU) as CTO

• 🏆 Named to the Chartis 2025 Financial Crime and Compliance 50

• 🌍 Expanded global customer base and innovation roadmap

Hawk first took the stage at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco, demoing its real-time AI Surveillance Suite. Since then, the product has evolved into one of the most advanced tools in the compliance space.

With the latest funding, expect more product innovation, global growth, and even deeper AI integration in financial crime prevention.

🔮 Why It Matters

The fight against financial crime is expensive, slow, and often inefficient.

But Hawk’s model—real-time AI intelligence, reduced human review, and actionable accuracy—is a compelling preview of where compliance is heading.

Banks want speed. Regulators want precision. Criminals are adapting.

Hawk is showing that AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a better way to fight back.

Thanks for reading this edition of Fintech Forward.

Know a startup pushing boundaries in compliance, fraud, or payments?
Or want to chat about what’s next in AI + finance? Just hit reply—we’re always listening.