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FundGuard

Company Overview

FundGuard is a fintech company that provides an artificial intelligence-powered and cloud-native investment accounting operating system. Founded in 2018, FundGuard is headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Boston and Tel Aviv.

The company aims to transform asset servicing operations by leveraging modern cloud and AI capabilities. FundGuard’s platform offers solutions for asset managers, asset owners, custodian banks and fund administrators, including:

  • Accounting (ABOR) - Real-time investment accounting platform
  • Investment Book of Record (IBOR) - Single platform to service front, middle, and back-office applications
  • NAV Contingency - Fully automated contingent NAV solution

FundGuard’s mission is to facilitate safe and efficient asset growth for all investors by enabling unparalleled scale and efficiency and significantly reduced costs of ownership for the asset management ecosystem.

Products Overview

FundGuard’s core product is an AI-powered, cloud-native investment accounting platform that includes:

  • Multi-books of record with a single transactional dataset
  • Real-time processing and controls framework
  • Continuous reconciliation
  • Cash and positions data by dimension, locations and status
  • Portfolio, GL and NAV balance values constantly versioned
  • Automated test scenarios and reconciliations
  • Digital workflows and collaboration tools
  • Rapid onboarding with “Fast File Mapper” ETL capabilities
  • Reporting and dashboard functionalities

The platform offers solutions for:

  1. Accounting (ABOR) - Real-time investment accounting with unlimited multi-book capabilities
  2. Investment Book of Record (IBOR) - Single platform for front, middle, back-office applications
  3. NAV Contingency - Fully automated, true-SaaS accounting-based contingent NAV

Founding Team

FundGuard was founded in 2018 by:

  • Lior Yogev - CEO & Co-founder Previously Head of North America at Multifonds and technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs

  • Yaniv Zecharya - CTO & Co-founder Former R&D Head at Salesforce Israel, building AI capabilities

  • Uri Katz - VP R&D and Co-founder Previously Senior Engineer at Natural Intelligence and Head of Financial Algorithms at TipRanks

Problem and Market Fit

FundGuard aims to solve key challenges in the investment management industry:

  • Legacy systems that are inflexible and costly to maintain
  • Lack of real-time data and processing capabilities
  • Inefficiencies in multi-book accounting and reconciliation
  • Difficulty supporting new asset classes and regulations
  • High costs and risks associated with NAV production

The company’s cloud-native, AI-powered platform enables:

  • Increased operational efficiency through automation and real-time processing
  • Reduced costs of ownership compared to legacy systems
  • Faster time-to-market for new products and capabilities
  • Enhanced data quality and accessibility across front-to-back operations
  • Improved risk management and compliance

Business Model

FundGuard operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, providing its investment accounting platform to asset managers, asset owners, custodian banks and fund administrators. The company likely charges subscription fees based on usage and functionality.

Funding and Runway

FundGuard has raised funding from several strategic investors, including:

  • Citi
  • State Street
  • Blumberg Capital
  • Team8
  • LionBird
  • Euclidean Capital
  • Hamilton Lane
  • Key1 Capital

While specific funding amounts are not provided, the backing of major financial institutions and venture capital firms suggests FundGuard has secured significant capital to fuel its growth.

Competitive Landscape

FundGuard competes with legacy investment accounting and fund administration systems, as well as other fintech companies offering modernized solutions. Key differentiators appear to be:

  • Cloud-native, AI-powered architecture
  • Real-time multi-book capabilities
  • Automation of NAV production and reconciliation processes
  • Flexibility to support new asset classes and regulations

Customers

While specific customer names are not provided, FundGuard targets:

  • Asset managers
  • Asset owners
  • Custodian banks
  • Fund administrators

The company has partnerships with major firms like State Street, suggesting adoption by large institutional clients.

Relevant News

Recent notable developments include:

  • June 2024: FundGuard becomes available on AWS Private Marketplace
  • June 2024: Named Best Disruptive Solution in 2024 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards
  • June 2024: Announced strategic alliance with ICE for data integration
  • May 2024: Selected by Gryphon Fund Group for primary accounting book of record
  • May 2024: Ranked in Top 10 of CTech by Calcalist’s Top 50 Israeli Startups

FundGuard continues to gain industry recognition and expand its partnerships and client base as it aims to transform investment operations through its AI-powered cloud platform.

Classification: AI Tier 2

  1. Core AI: Create fundamental AI technologies/base models
  2. AI-Enabled: Core offerings rely on recent AI advances
  3. AI Adopters: Use AI to enhance existing products/services
  4. Non-AI: No AI in products/services

FundGuard’s core investment accounting platform heavily relies on recent AI advancements to deliver its primary functionalities, fitting the AI-Enabled (Tier 2) classification.