Surge Ventures, a venture studio initially targeting the financial services and wealth management space with the goal of bringing multiple software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups to market by addressing emerging compliance risks, has launched its first venture, RegVerse.
The new offering’s flagship product is the Avery platform, which is designed to enhance regulatory change management and tracking of firmwide compliance protocols for RIAs, broker-dealers, banks, hedge funds, mutual funds and insurance agencies of nearly any size.
Avery leverages generative artificial intelligence to act as a “regulatory co-pilot” for compliance teams by automating operational processes and providing 24/7 personalized compliance guidance. The starting price for RegVerse is $329 per month.
“Navigating intricate regulations presents an ongoing challenge for firms of all sizes,” said Sid Yenamandra, Co-Founder of Surge Ventures and CEO of RegVerse. “Avery’s blend of AI-powered insights and human support empowers firms to effectively track and implement best practices, reducing risks and ensuring stringent compliance with ease.”
Through Avery, RegVerse strives to optimize resource allocation by identifying relevant regulations, leveraging real-time insights and dynamic mapping, as well as analyzing events for task allocation and automating manual tasks.
Avery also comes with a repository of more than 100 state and federal regulatory sources, which it aims to enable tailored regulation management for each entity’s unique requirements. In addition, the platform has pre-built integrations with existing tools.
According to a 2023 Gartner survey, 66% of financial service leaders anticipate that generative AI will have a net positive impact on their organization and 61% of executives reported that their firms are either boosting AI investments or intend to over the next year.
“Harnessing the power of AI, Avery revolutionizes regulatory compliance management,” said Tito Pombra, the former CCO of the investment management firm Matthews Asia. “The fusion of advanced artificial intelligence and tailored assistance sets the gold standard for effective, industry-specific compliance solutions.”
Pombra currently serves as President and Founder of Adviser Compliance Consulting (ACC) and is a member of the Board of Advisors for Surge Ventures. He has approximately 35 years of compliance, investments and financial services experience.
Surge Ventures uses a proprietary “Surge Method” that seeks to swiftly test ideas, detect product-market-fit, track growth, and de-risk investments by focusing on promising products and solutions. Virgo Capital, an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm, provided $10 million in seed funding for Surge Ventures.
Prior to co-founding Surge Ventures, Yenamandra founded and ran the award-winning cybersecurity platform Entreda before its acquisition by K1 Investment Management and Smarsh in 2020. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Wealth Solutions Report, and WSR CEO Larry Roth joined the Surge Ventures Advisory Board.
Chris Latham, Managing Editor at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at clatham@wealthsolutionsreport.com
