Vigilant AI raises £585k to commercialise compliance-first GenAI for regulated firms
This article covers Vigilant AI, a Derby-headquartered startup, which has raised £585k in a pre-seed round led by Haatch to scale a platform that embeds generative AI into regulated workplaces with real-time compliance controls. The funding aims to accelerate pilots into revenue-generating deployments and supports regulated firms, notably those in financial services, by providing audit-focused governance and traceability for enterprise generative AI use.
Derby-headquartered Vigilant AI.ai has raised £585,000 in a pre-seed round led by B2B SaaS investor Haatch to scale its platform that embeds generative AI into regulated workplaces with real-time compliance controls. The funding is intended to push pilots into revenue-generating deployments, addressing a persistent barrier to GenAI adoption in financial services and other regulated sectors.
Why it matters
Generative AI promises efficiency gains for enterprises, but regulated firms have been cautious because they must prove every AI action complies with policy and regulation. Vigilant AI is positioning itself at that intersection, offering an audit-focused layer intended to let teams use AI while maintaining traceability and governance.
That matter is both commercial and regulatory. UK financial institutions face increasing scrutiny over AI use and rising expectations around explainability and audit trails. A solution that reduces friction between innovation teams and compliance officers could accelerate real-world deployments.
Inside the product
Vigilant AI delivers what it calls AI Teammates: generative AI agents integrated into enterprise workflows with always-on guardrails and immutable audit logs. The company says its platform creates provable compliance records for AI-driven actions, aiming to let users work faster without breaching policy.
Founded in 2024, the startup is finalising initial pilots and plans to productise the platform with features such as intuitive controls, enterprise-grade security certifications and self-service onboarding. The roadmap cited converting in-flight pilots into paying customers in Q4 2025 and expanding deployments with regulated businesses.
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Mark Wood, Co-founder & CTO of Vigilant AI.ai, said:
As a trusted advisor to financial services boards, I kept seeing the same pattern: teams got excited about the potential of generative AI but then hit a wall when asked about governance and compliance. We founded Vigilant AI.ai because the toolset to answer those questions simply didn’t exist. Our platform enables people in the business to onboard AI Teammates where work happens whilst real-time guardrails and audit logs protect and govern. Customers gain AI productivity at speed, with regulatory compliant trust.
In the announcement, Mike Anyfantakis, Co-founder & CPO of Vigilant AI.ai, said:
We’re already finalising our first pilots, and it is clear that clients want to go live fast. They are keen to create and collaborate with their AI teammates in their everyday work, at speed. By making compliance an always-on, real-time feature, we give financial services and other regulated firms confidence to deploy AI Agents in their team workflows. We’re excited by the feedback received from early customers and looking to further develop our product in collaboration with our partners.
Who’s backing the round
The £585,000 pre-seed round was led by Haatch and combines funds from three Haatch-managed sources, including Haatch itself, the East Midlands Combined County Authority and the British Business Bank. Haatch is a UK-based investor focused on B2B SaaS and has networks in fintech and financial services that the startup says will aid early commercial traction.
In the announcement, Fred Soneya, Partner at Haatch, said:
We back Founders solving deep, universal pains in B2B SaaS. Vigilant AI.ai tackles the biggest blocker to enterprise GenAI adoption: provable trust. Their real-time compliance layer is exactly what our fintech and financial-services network has been asking for.
The mix of private VC and public-backed capital signals local ecosystem support for AI startups in the Midlands and reflects a trend in the UK of combining government-backed funds with venture capital to de-risk early-stage scaling.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of AI venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of AI angel investors in the UK
The bigger picture
Vigilant AI’s raise sits within a broader market response to enterprise GenAI risk. Investors and regulators in the UK and Europe are increasingly focused on governance, explainability and auditability of AI systems. Startups that can demonstrate provable compliance may find faster routes to adoption among regulated clients.
For the UK ecosystem, the deal highlights continued investor interest in enterprise AI safety and the role of regional and national funding bodies such as the East Midlands Combined County Authority and the British Business Bank in seeding startups outside London. As pilots seek to convert into paid deployments, Vigilant AI will be a test case for whether compliance-first tooling can close the trust gap and unlock wider GenAI use across financial services and other regulated sectors in the UK and Europe.
They've invested in Vigilant AI
Get to know these AI investors
Click here for a full list of 7,233+ startup investors in the UK