Strategic Risk Associates raises $12m in Series B funding

By Edlyn Cardoza

Strategic Risk Associates (SRA), one of the leading providers of integrated risk and performance management SaaS technology (Watchtower) for the financial services and insurance industry, announced the closing of a $12 million Series B capital raise. This round of funding was co-led by EJF Capital through its affiliate, the EJF Silvergate Ventures fund, JAM FINTOP, and FINTOP Capital, with participation by longtime SRA customer Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation and other existing investors.

“Financial Institutions need a panoramic view of risks that provide the board and executive management better oversight of their business and addresses the increasing regulatory burden and economic realities of today’s banking environment,” said Michael Glotz, CEO and Co-Founder of Strategic Risk Associates. “SRA’s vision is to help our clients improve hindsight, insight, and foresight into their organization’s risks and opportunities through advanced data analytics and continuous monitoring.”

With decades of experience in risk and compliance, the SRA team has built a reputation as the trusted experts in helping financial institutions and insurance companies adapt to changing regulatory pressures. This investment allows SRA to continue this work at scale with the robust Watchtower SaaS platform and expand its integrated risk suite of offerings to support FinTech and digital asset risk management.

“EJF believes that the banking industry is undergoing a rapid evolution to a substantially more real-time data-driven future. Success will be predicated on managing enterprise risk through advanced tools such as Watchtower. These tools will help both banks and their regulators properly assess direct and indirect risks across the spectrum of their balance sheet,” says Jonathan Bresler, Managing Partner of the EJF Silvergate Ventures Fund.

“JAM FINTOP and FINTOP Capital believe SRA is uniquely positioned to become the leader in enabling banks to compliantly offer next-generation banking services,” adds Joe Maxwell, Managing Partner of FINTOP Capital.

SRA works with hundreds of financial institutions across the US that are concerned with today’s regulatory environment and risks associated with adding modern products, such as (crypto) digital assets, and keeping track of their 3^rd party vendors. The expansion of Watchtower’s Fintech Risk Management Suite will help banks and credit unions measure their FinTech risk maturity, offering quarterly risk assessments, including issue management, and continuous monitoring through interactive dashboards and data visualisations to ensure they mitigate risk, stay compliant and conform with guidance from regulators.