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Circit raises $22 million to expand in US

  • Circit has secured $22 million in growth equity to scale its verification network and support U.S. expansion.
  • The round was led by Ten Coves Capital, with participation from existing investors Aquiline and MiddleGame Ventures.
  • Circit says it is now used by more than 400 audit firms, including all of the top 20 global audit networks.
  • Its network spans over 30,000 banks and other evidence providers, supporting source-verified audit evidence at scale.

$22M Growth Equity Round
– Round size (reported): $22 million growth equity
– Lead investor: Ten Coves Capital (New York-based growth equity firm focused on financial software)
– Existing investors participating: Aquiline; MiddleGame Ventures
– Adoption (reported): 400+ audit firms, including all top 20 global audit networks
– Network scale (reported): 30,000+ banks, fund service providers, and other evidence providers
– Throughput (reported, past year): confirmations for 150,000 corporate entities; 100M+ transactions independently verified on average

Circit’s $22 Million Growth Equity Funding

Circit, an audit confirmation and financial data verification platform, has raised $22 million in growth equity financing as it pushes to scale what it describes as an “independent verification layer” for the audit industry—and to accelerate its U.S. expansion.

The company’s pitch is straightforward: audit confirmations are foundational to trust in financial reporting, yet the underlying workflows have long been manual, slow, and vulnerable to fraud risk. Circit says it replaces client-provided, document-heavy processes with direct, source-verified evidence delivered through a secure, API-driven network that connects audit firms with banks, funds service providers, law firms, corporates, and other evidence providers.

The new capital is earmarked for three main areas. First, product innovation, including AI-powered workflows that span the stakeholders participating in confirmations. Second, deeper bank API connectivity—critical for moving from one-off requests toward more direct, permissioned access to verified data. Third, scaling go-to-market and customer success teams, with a particular focus on the U.S., alongside plans to double the company’s team over the next two years.

Scaling AI Audit Connectivity
Use of funds (as described by Circit)
1) Product innovation → AI-powered workflows across auditors, clients, and evidence providers
2) Connectivity → deepen bank API connectivity to support more direct, permissioned access to verified data
3) Commercial scale → expand go-to-market + customer success (U.S. focus)
4) Capacity → plan to double the team over the next two years
Checkpoint: each workstream only “compounds” if evidence providers (banks/others) and audit-firm workflows are onboarded in parallel.

Circit’s leadership frames the raise as a response to accelerating expectations from audit committees at large corporates that auditors will increasingly use AI-enabled technology to improve quality and economics using real-time, verified audit data.

Leading Investors in the Funding Round

The funding round was led by Ten Coves Capital, a New York-based growth equity firm that specializes in financial software. Existing investors Aquiline and MiddleGame Ventures also participated, giving the round a mix of new capital and continuity from backers already familiar with Circit’s product and market.

Circit and its investors are positioning the company as infrastructure rather than a point solution: a network and data layer that can sit underneath audit, compliance, and other regulated workflows where independent verification matters. Ten Coves, in particular, emphasized the “mission-critical” nature of the systems it backs across audit, tax, and regulated financial services—an alignment with Circit’s focus on evidence integrity and workflow modernization.

Steven Piaker, managing partner at Ten Coves Capital, is set to join Circit’s board, underscoring the strategic weight of the investment as the company expands in the U.S. market.

Circit’s existing investors also tied their support to industry-wide risk and structural change. Aquiline pointed to the systemic risk of relying on unverified, client-provided data—an issue highlighted by repeated, high-profile audit failures. MiddleGame Ventures framed Circit as operating at the intersection of digitization, automation, and AI tools, with a network model designed to help participants transact and manage risk faster and more securely.

Strategic Investor Syndicate Rationale
Why this investor syndicate matters (in Circit’s framing)
– Ten Coves Capital (lead): growth equity investor in financial software; board involvement via Steven Piaker (Managing Partner) signals hands-on scaling support.
– Aquiline (existing): fintech/financial services investor; Giovanni Nani (Head of European Venture) links the thesis to reducing reliance on unverified, client-provided data.
– MiddleGame Ventures (existing): fintech investor; Patrick Pinschmidt (Co-Managing Partner) emphasizes digitization/automation + AI tools operating through a global network.

Circit’s Client Base and Market Reach

Circit says it has seen a breakout year in adoption, with usage across more than 400 audit firms—including all of the top 20 global audit networks. That footprint matters in a profession where standardization, methodology, and risk management often drive technology adoption: once a workflow becomes embedded in audit delivery, switching costs can be high.

On the supply side of evidence, Circit reports a verification network spanning over 30,000 banks, funds service providers, and other evidence providers. This breadth is central to the company’s “network-driven model”: the more counterparties connected, the more useful the platform becomes for auditors seeking independent confirmation across different asset and liability types.

Circit also provided scale indicators for the past year. The platform facilitated confirmation of assets and liabilities for 150,000 corporate entities and, on average, independently verified over 100 million transactions. While those figures do not, on their own, describe audit outcomes, they do signal operational throughput—an important factor as the industry shifts from periodic, manual sampling toward more continuous, data-driven approaches.

Geographically, Circit operates across the UK, EU, and Australia, and it is regulated as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) by the Central Bank of Ireland. That regulatory posture aligns with its emphasis on permissioned access and secure data exchange, particularly where bank-verified transaction data is involved.

Metric (reported by Circit) What it describes Figure
Audit-firm adoption Number of audit firms using the platform 400+
Top-network coverage Presence across top global audit networks All top 20
Evidence-provider network Banks, fund service providers, and other evidence providers connected 30,000+
Entities confirmed (past year) Corporate entities with assets/liabilities confirmed via the platform 150,000
Transactions verified (average) Average number of transactions independently verified 100M+

Impact of Circit’s Platform on Audit Processes

Source-Verified Confirmation Workflow
Client-mediated confirmations vs. source-verified network flow
– Traditional flow: Auditor request → Client forwards to bank/counterparty → Responses return via client → Auditor reconciles emails/PDFs/spreadsheets → Evidence filed
– Common friction points: delays, missing follow-ups, inconsistent formats, weaker chain-of-custody
– Circit’s intended flow: Auditor request → Direct request to evidence provider via secure, permissioned network/API → Source-verified response returned in structured form → Evidence delivered into the audit file
– What changes operationally: less manual chasing + more standardized ingestion; independence is strengthened because evidence is obtained from the source rather than routed through the client

The company highlights several capabilities:

  • Digital audit confirmations across bank and non-bank-held assets and liabilities
  • Direct, permissioned access to bank-verified transaction data
  • A single AI-driven, end-to-end auditor-to-client collaboration and data ingestion workflow that delivers critical evidence directly into the audit file

In practical terms, this is about reducing friction and risk in one of the most sensitive parts of an audit: confirming what exists, what is owed, and what is owned. Circit argues that replacing manual, client-provided workflows can improve audit quality, increase speed, and reduce the risk of large-scale financial fraud.

The timing is notable. Circit links its growth to rising expectations from audit committees at large corporates, which increasingly want auditors to use AI-enabled technology to deliver “enhanced quality and better economics” via real-time, verified audit data. In that framing, verification is not just a compliance step—it becomes a data foundation for analytics, testing, and potentially more continuous audit approaches.

Strategic Goals for U.S. Market Expansion

Circit’s U.S. expansion plan is tied directly to how it expects audit workflows to evolve: toward real-time, verified data flows that can support AI-enabled testing and more continuous processes. The company says the new funding will help scale go-to-market and customer success teams, a market where large audit networks and corporates can drive rapid adoption once a platform becomes embedded.

The company also plans to double its team over the next two years, suggesting that expansion is not limited to sales coverage. Customer success is particularly important in audit technology, where adoption often requires alignment with methodology, risk controls, and stakeholder coordination across auditors, corporates, and evidence providers.

Circit’s CEO, David Heath, connected the U.S. opportunity to broader shifts in financial infrastructure, including open banking, API access, and digital asset frameworks such as the GENIUS Act. The implication is that as financial data becomes more accessible through standardized, permissioned interfaces, the bottleneck shifts from “can we get the data?” to “can we trust it, verify it, and use it safely in regulated workflows?”

For Circit, the U.S. strategy appears to be about positioning the platform as the layer that sits underneath these changes—helping auditors confirm assets and liabilities across corporate balance sheets with independent access rather than client-mediated evidence.

U.S. Audit Expansion Priorities
Practical execution steps that typically make (or break) U.S. expansion for audit infrastructure
– Prioritize beachhead segments: pick initial audit workflows/asset classes where confirmations are frequent and pain is acute
– Land with audit networks, then widen: align with methodology/risk teams early so rollout isn’t blocked at engagement level
– Scale evidence-provider coverage: expand U.S.-relevant bank and non-bank evidence-provider connectivity in parallel with sales
– Prove time-to-evidence: track cycle time (request → verified response) and exception rates to show operational value
– Build customer success “controls muscle”: onboarding, permissions, and audit-file integration need repeatable playbooks
– Hire for regulated GTM: sales + implementation talent that can navigate procurement, security review, and stakeholder complexity

Future Innovations with AI-Powered Workflows

Circit says a meaningful portion of the new investment will go into product innovation, specifically workflows across all stakeholders in its audit confirmations network. The company already describes its platform as supporting an AI-driven end-to-end workflow for auditor-to-client collaboration and data ingestion, with evidence delivered into the audit file.

The direction of travel is clear: as the audit industry transitions from manual processes toward digital, continuous, and “agentic” workflows, Circit wants to be the trusted verification layer that underpins AI-powered audit evidence, analytics, and transaction insights. In this model, AI is not positioned as a replacement for audit judgment, but as a way to improve the economics and quality of audit work by making verified data available faster and in more usable formats.

Circit also plans to deepen bank API connectivity. That matters because AI-enabled workflows depend on reliable, permissioned data access—particularly when auditors need bank-verified transaction data rather than client-exported reports. Stronger connectivity can reduce delays, improve coverage across institutions, and support more standardized evidence collection.

Investors echoed this direction. Ten Coves highlighted Circit’s API-first architecture as a differentiator, while MiddleGame Ventures pointed to the combination of digitization, automation, and differentiated AI tools operating through a global network designed to manage risk more securely.

AI Audits: Gains and Risks
AI-powered audit workflows: what improves vs. what needs extra care
– Improves: faster routing/triage of requests, more consistent ingestion into the audit file, better coverage when data is available in structured form
– Needs extra care: data quality at the source, permissions/consent handling across parties, explainability of AI-assisted steps, and robust exception handling when APIs or counterparties don’t respond
– Practical takeaway: the “AI” upside compounds most when the underlying evidence is already source-verified and standardized—otherwise automation can scale inconsistencies.

Circit’s Role in Modernizing Audit Infrastructure

Circit is framing itself as infrastructure for trust: a platform that embeds verified data at the core of every audit by connecting the parties that hold evidence with the professionals who need to test it. The company’s emphasis on an “independent verification layer” reflects a broader industry concern—namely, that reliance on unverified, client-provided data can create systemic risk.

Aquiline’s Giovanni Nani explicitly tied the problem to “repeated, high-profile audit failures,” arguing that independent, real-time verification at scale is a direct response to those shortcomings. Circit’s approach—source verification through a network of banks and other evidence providers—aims to reduce the opportunity for manipulation and to strengthen the chain of custody for audit evidence.

From a technology standpoint, Circit’s modernization thesis rests on three pillars: a secure network model, API-driven connectivity, and workflows designed to deliver evidence directly into the audit file. From an industry standpoint, it is betting that audit committees and large corporates will continue to push for better quality and efficiency, and that auditors will respond by adopting platforms that can provide real-time, verified data.

If that shift continues, the winners are likely to be the systems that become embedded as “plumbing”—not just tools used by one team, but shared rails connecting auditors, financial institutions, and corporates in a standardized, permissioned way.

Drivers Behind Verification Layers
Why “verification layer” is showing up now
– Audit committees are pushing for higher-quality evidence with better economics, which favors more direct, standardized data flows.
– Open banking and API access make it more feasible to obtain permissioned data from institutions rather than relying on client-exported artifacts.
– High-profile audit failures keep attention on independence and chain-of-custody—areas where source-verified evidence can reduce avoidable risk.

Circit’s Strategic Growth and Future Prospects

Circit’s latest funding round is a bet that audit is entering a new phase: less manual chasing of documents, more structured, permissioned access to verified data—delivered fast enough to support AI-enabled workflows and continuous approaches. With adoption across more than 400 audit firms and a network spanning over 30,000 evidence providers, the company is positioning itself as a scaled platform rather than an early-stage experiment.

The next test is execution: deepening bank API connectivity, expanding in the U.S., and doubling the team over two years while maintaining trust, security, and reliability in a workflow where errors and gaps can carry outsized consequences.

Key Milestones to Monitor
What to watch next (milestones that would validate the thesis)
– U.S. traction: visible growth in U.S.-based audit-firm adoption and repeat usage across engagements
– Connectivity depth: more U.S.-relevant bank/evidence-provider coverage and fewer “manual fallback” cases
– Time-to-evidence: shorter confirmation cycle times without higher exception rates
– Product delivery: AI-powered workflow features that reduce admin work while keeping evidence traceability intact
– Team scaling: successful hiring in go-to-market + customer success without degrading reliability/security

Harnessing AI for Enhanced Audit Processes

Circit is directing investment toward AI-powered workflows that span the full confirmation network, building on its existing AI-driven collaboration and data ingestion capabilities. The strategic aim is to make verified evidence more immediate and more usable—so auditors can improve quality and economics using real-time, independently verified data rather than client-mediated artifacts.

Building a Robust Verification Network

Circit’s network effects are central to its long-term prospects. The company’s reported reach—over 30,000 banks and other evidence providers—supports its claim to be building a global verification layer. As it expands in the U.S., the ability to add connectivity, maintain secure permissioned access, and keep evidence flows reliable will likely determine how deeply it can embed itself into modern audit and compliance workflows.

Perspective: This analysis is written from the viewpoint of Martin Weidemann (weidemann.tech), a digital transformation and fintech/payments operator focused on how API connectivity, permissioned data access, and workflow design perform in regulated, multi-stakeholder environments.

Metrics and quotes here reflect publicly available statements from Circit and its investors at the time of writing. They help illustrate adoption and operational scale but may not translate into audit-quality outcomes in every engagement. Product capabilities, connectivity coverage, and regulatory requirements may change as Circit expands, and details may be updated as new information emerges.

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