FirmScribe
FirmScribe is a SaaS company that captures and archives iMessage, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Android messages for SEC and FINRA regulatory compliance, serving broker-dealers, RIAs, wealth managers, hedge funds, and private equity firms through enterprise subscriptions and channel partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersKihei, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What FirmScribe does
FirmScribe is a privately held SaaS company that captures and archives mobile messaging content (iMessage, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Android RCS) for regulatory compliance by financial services firms. The platform uses a Mac-based architecture where software on a Mac connected to the same AppleID as the monitored iPhone reads and archives messages from iCloud, a method positioned as compliant with Apple's Terms of Service. FirmScribe claims to be the only company offering enterprise-grade iMessage capture, having onboarded over 70,000 iPhones and processed more than 2 billion messages since iMessage archiving capabilities went into operation in 2017. The company delivers captured messages to any third-party compliance archive, including Smarsh, Global Relay, Bloomberg, Proofpoint, Arctera, and Microsoft, and has integrated with RegTech platforms such as MCO, Hadrius, Greenboard, and MessageWatcher.
The firm sells primarily through an enterprise field-sales motion targeting broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and private equity firms that must comply with SEC Rule 17a-4 and FINRA electronic communications supervision rules. Revenue is generated via custom-priced enterprise subscriptions (monthly or annual billing, unlimited devices) complemented by a free 7-day proof-of-concept starter tier for up to 5 devices. Distribution is augmented by channel partnerships with MCO (which gives access to 1,500+ clients across 125+ countries), boutique financial-services-focused IT firms Triada Networks and VIP IT, and AI-native compliance platforms. FirmScribe is headquartered in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, operates as a subsidiary of parent company SaferKid (founded by Chairman and CTO Cheyenne Ehrlich), and runs with a lean 1-10 person team that includes CEO Jordan Richardson (formerly 12 years at Smarsh), VP Sales Erin Phipps, VP Partnerships Ford Hockley, SVP Marketing Trey Woodruff, and SVP Engineering Brian Ray. The company is bootstrapped with no identified institutional capital.
FirmScribe firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- FirmScribe
- Legal name
- FirmScribe, LLC
- Website
- https://firmscribe.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- FirmScribe is a SaaS company that captures and archives iMessage, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and Android messages for SEC and FINRA regulatory compliance, serving broker-dealers, RIAs, wealth managers, hedge funds, and private equity firms through enterprise subscriptions and channel partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
FirmScribe industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Compliance Archiving Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Secure/Encrypted Messaging (BPAMACAG)
Keywords
Where FirmScribe is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kihei
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
FirmScribe business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription - Enterprise: SaaS subscription model for enterprise customers with unlimited devices. Offers monthly or annual billing options. Pricing is custom based on organization size and requirements.
- Subscription - Starter: Free 7-day proof of concept tier for up to 5 devices to demonstrate value before enterprise conversion. Captures iMessages, SMS, and MMS with support for all archives.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Starter - Free 7-day proof of concept for up to 5 devices |
| Subscription | Monthly | Enterprise - Custom subscription with unlimited devices |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
FirmScribe product offering
Product offeringCore offering
FirmScribe provides mobile message capture and compliance archiving software that captures iMessages, SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, and Android messages from employee devices and delivers them to enterprise compliance archive platforms. Built on a proprietary Mac-based architecture using AppleID/iCloud authentication, the platform enables regulated financial firms to satisfy SEC Rule 17a-4 and FINRA electronic communications supervision requirements with continuous coverage and privacy-preserving business-thread filtering.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- iMessage Capture Compliance archiving solution for iMessages and SMS on iPhone. Captures all or selected business-tagged threads on the employee's iPhone via FirmScribe's Mac-based AppleID/iCloud architecture (compliant with Apple Terms of Service), and delivers archived messages to any compliance archive platform for SEC and FINRA supervision. Used by broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and PE firms.
- WhatsApp Capture Compliance archiving solution for WhatsApp Business or Personal messages, including group conversations. Automatically archives all messages to any archive destination, enabling regulated financial firms to meet SEC and FINRA electronic communications requirements on WhatsApp.
- Android Capture Compliance archiving solution for SMS, MMS, and RCS messages on Android devices. Operates silently in the background without disrupting employee phone usage, with contact filtering that lets employees mark business conversations while keeping personal chats private, and delivers captured messages to any compliance archive.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2 Billion+ messages captured
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use FirmScribe
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
FirmScribe technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
AI capability1 record
Feature10 records
FirmScribe partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- MyComplianceOffice (MCO)coreMCO partnered with FirmScribe to deliver iMessage retention capabilities for financial services firms. The collaboration incorporates FirmScribe's iMessage archiving technology to enhance MCO's compliance technology solutions. MCO serves 1500+ client companies across 125+ countries with 30+ compliance products on a single platform.
- HadriuscoreHadrius is a comprehensive compliance software platform leveraging AI to automate SEC and FINRA regulatory requirements. Their communications module provides WORM and 17a-4 compliant archiving with AI-powered surveillance. FirmScribe delivers iMessage and mobile capture to Hadrius for AI-powered review.
- Greenboard, Inc.coreGreenboard is an SEC and FINRA compliance operating system founded in 2023 that helps wealth managers, private funds, hedge funds, and broker-dealers. They automate clerical compliance work and provide AI-powered marketing review, content archiving, and compliance workflows. FirmScribe integrates to deliver mobile message capture.
- SmarshcoreSmarsh is a major compliance archive platform. FirmScribe captures iMessages and delivers them to the Smarsh archive for compliance supervision and review.
- Global RelaycoreGlobal Relay is a leading compliance archive provider for financial services. FirmScribe delivers captured iMessages to Global Relay for archiving and compliance management.
- BloombergcoreBloomberg compliance solutions integrate with FirmScribe for message capture and archiving for financial organizations.
- ProofpointcoreProofpoint provides secure message archiving solutions. Partnership enables FirmScribe mobile capture integration with Proofpoint compliance platform.
- MicrosoftcoreFirmScribe supports Microsoft Entra (Azure) for federated authentication and integrates with Microsoft compliance solutions.
- Triada NetworksminorTriada Networks is a boutique IT and cybersecurity firm serving small to mid-sized financial services organizations including hedge funds, private equity firms, wealth managers, and investment advisors. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in NJ, they provide managed IT and cybersecurity services to financial sector clients.
- VIP ITminorVIP IT Inc. provides IT strategy and support for small to mid-sized businesses, helping clients with technology infrastructure including compliance technology implementation.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
FirmScribe competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Smarsh: Smarsh is the dominant compliance archiving platform for financial services and is both a downstream archive customer of FirmScribe and a direct peer offering mobile message capture (via MobileGuard/teleMessage). Comparable because both serve broker-dealers and RIAs with capture and archiving of regulated electronic communications including mobile messaging.
- LeapXpert: LeapXpert provides enterprise mobile messaging compliance, including capture of WhatsApp, iMessage, and voice calls, designed for financial-services regulatory adherence. Direct peer serving the exact same regulated mobile-communications compliance use case as FirmScribe.
- Global Relay: Global Relay is a major compliance archiving provider for financial services, integrating its own mobile capture alongside archive services. Directly comparable as an end-to-end RegTech provider for SEC/FINRA-regulated communications supervision, and one of FirmScribe's named delivery destinations.
- TeleMessage: TeleMessage specialises in mobile message capture (SMS, WhatsApp, voice) for regulated industries including financial services and government. Direct peer offering overlapping product capabilities on the same compliance use cases FirmScribe addresses.
- MyComplianceOffice (MCO): MCO is a SEC/FINRA compliance platform serving 1,500+ clients across 125+ countries with 30+ compliance modules. Directly comparable as a compliance software partner that integrates FirmScribe's mobile capture into its broader compliance suite; competes at the platform layer where FirmScribe focuses on capture.
Broad incumbents
- Proofpoint: Proofpoint is a large incumbent in enterprise security and compliance archiving with significant financial-services presence. Comparable as both a competitor in compliance archiving and a listed delivery destination for FirmScribe captures; addresses a broader portfolio (email security, DLP) than FirmScribe's mobile-message niche.
- Bloomberg Vault: Bloomberg Vault provides messaging and compliance archiving widely used by financial firms and is one of FirmScribe's named delivery destinations. Comparable as a broad incumbent archive that could move into native mobile capture.
Emerging players
- Hadrius: Hadrius is an AI-powered SEC/FINRA compliance platform that delivers communications archiving with WORM/17a-4 compliance and AI surveillance. A direct integration partner for FirmScribe and an emerging competitor offering AI-native review that may compress FirmScribe's positioning over time.
- Movius: Movius offers mobile communications compliance, including capture of WhatsApp, SMS, and voice, primarily serving regulated financial firms. Comparable as an emerging niche peer addressing the same mobile-message regulatory gap that FirmScribe targets.
- Greenboard: Greenboard is an SEC/FINRA compliance operating system for wealth managers, private funds, hedge funds, and broker-dealers, including content archiving and AI-powered marketing review. Comparable as both a delivery destination and an emerging competitor to FirmScribe's archive-adjacent functionality.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
FirmScribe social profiles
Digital presenceFirmScribe compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
FirmScribe financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
FirmScribe leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
FirmScribe funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
FirmScribe M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about FirmScribe
What does FirmScribe do?
FirmScribe provides mobile message capture and compliance archiving software that captures iMessages, SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, and Android messages from employee devices and delivers them to enterprise compliance archive platforms. Built on a proprietary Mac-based architecture using AppleID/iCloud authentication, the platform enables regulated financial firms to satisfy SEC Rule 17a-4 and FINRA electronic communications supervision requirements with continuous coverage and privacy-preserving business-thread filtering.
Is FirmScribe a public or private company?
FirmScribe is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was FirmScribe founded?
FirmScribe was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is FirmScribe based?
FirmScribe is headquartered in Kihei, United States, in the North America region.
How does FirmScribe make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription - Enterprise is the primary driver. The others are subscription - Starter.
Who are FirmScribe's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Smarsh, LeapXpert, Global Relay, TeleMessage and MyComplianceOffice (MCO). Broad incumbents are Proofpoint and Bloomberg Vault. Emerging players are Hadrius, Movius and Greenboard.
Does FirmScribe have an API?
No public API is recorded for FirmScribe.
What industry is FirmScribe in?
FirmScribe's product category is Compliance Archiving Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMACAG, Secure/Encrypted Messaging. Its NAICS code is 513210.