Adclear raises £2.1m seed to automate financial promotions compliance
This article covers Adclear, a London startup that automates financial promotions compliance that has closed an oversubscribed £2.1m seed round. The funding will be used to expand the team, extend regulatory coverage and build an end-to-end compliance suite for regulated marketing teams at banks, wealth managers and fintechs operating under UK and EU rules.
Adclear, a London startup that automates financial promotions compliance, has closed an oversubscribed £2.1 million seed round. The funding will be used to expand the team, roll out broader regulatory coverage and build a full end-to-end compliance suite for regulated marketing teams — a pain point for banks, wealth managers and fintechs operating under strict UK and EU rules.
Why it matters
Regulated marketing in banking, investing, wealth management, fintech and crypto is constrained by detailed rules from the FCA and the ASA. Manual review of every ad, social post or product interface can take days or weeks and slows go-to-market activity.
Adclear’s platform analyses social content, paid ads, product user interfaces, emails and website copy against jurisdiction-specific rules, providing real-time feedback, automated claims checks, positional comments and audit trails. The company says the tool can cut approval times by up to 88%, a claim that, if reflected in customers’ operations, addresses a major operational bottleneck for regulated brands.
Clients include Lloyds Banking Group (a major UK retail and commercial bank), PensionBee (a digital pensions provider), Yonder (digital investment or trading service), InvestEngine (investment platform) and ActivTrades (online broker). Each example indicates traction across incumbents, digital-first financial services and brokerages that face differing promotional rules and disclosure needs.
Inside the product
Adclear’s system evaluates content against regulatory regimes in the UK, EU and US, with APAC and MENA coverage planned. Key capabilities the company highlights are:
- Real-time, policy-specific compliance feedback
- Automated analysis of claims, risk statements and required disclosures
- Positional comments that pinpoint exact revisions
- Full audit trails for regulator-ready documentation
- Post-publication monitoring for affiliates, partners and finfluencers
The startup says the platform covers the entire financial promotions lifecycle — pre-approval review through to monitoring — positioning itself differently from incumbents such as Red Oak Compliance Solutions and Secjur, which it says focus on narrower parts of the workflow.
Adclear reports 10x ARR growth since early 2025 and states it is now the leading platform in the UK financial promotions compliance market.
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Joe Jordan, Co-Founder and CCO at Adclear, said:
We saw a clear mismatch: AI lets marketing teams create and personalise content at unprecedented speed, while compliance teams are stuck in slow, repetitive review cycles. In finance, that isn’t just inefficient - it’s risky. Adclear synchronises compliance with the speed of creation so brands can 10x their output while reducing regulatory headaches.
In the announcement, Doni Hoti, CEO and Co-Founder at Adclear, said:
In an AI-powered marketing world, financial brands can create more content than ever - but that must be matched by compliance processes that won’t slow them down. Our platform enables compliance to move at the same speed as creation, unlocking a new frontier for brand innovation while removing a major operational burden.
The company was founded in 2024 by Doni Hoti, Joe Jordan and Cameron Ward and currently has an eight-person team. The seed cash will be used to grow headcount, extend regulatory coverage, launch new tooling that covers the full financial promotions lifecycle and build monitoring for affiliates and finfluencers.
Who’s backing the round
The round was led by Outward VC and included participation from AFG Partners, Tenity and returning investors Haatch and Force Over Mass Capital. Leading fintech angels also took part, including Dan Cobley (founder of ClearScore) and Keith Grose, who invested via the a16z Scout Fund and Ventures Together.
In the announcement, Andi Kazeroonian, Principal at Outward VC, said:
Marketing and compliance workflows across financial services are undergoing profound change. Adclear is one of the clearest examples of that shift. The founders combine product obsession with deep insight into their clients’ pain points, delivering a solution that’s intuitive, accurate and transformative.
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The bigger picture
Adclear is addressing a regulatory and operational gap that has widened as marketing teams adopt AI-driven creative tools. Faster content creation without faster compliance creates legal and reputational risk for financial brands. Tools that can map content to jurisdictional rules and generate audit trails are increasingly relevant across the UK and Europe as regulators scrutinise promotional claims and disclosures.
The startup’s expansion plans into the EU, US and beyond reflect demand for standardised compliance workflows across markets. For UK and European fintechs and incumbent banks navigating a tightening regulatory environment, automation of financial promotions reviews is likely to become a standard operational capability rather than a nicety.
They've invested in Adclear
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| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Outward VC | 9 investments investments | 4 contacts contacts | |||
 AFG Partners | 3 investments investments | more info | |||
 Haatch | 29 investments investments | 7 contacts contacts | |||
 Force Over Mass Capital | 2 investments investments | 1 contact contact | |||
 a16z Scout Fund | 1 investment investment | more info | |||
 Ventures Together | 3 investments investments | more info |
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