Semla

What Semla does

Semla is a Stockholm-based fintech founded in 2024 that provides an API-first financial data platform automating due diligence, income verification, card authentication, and card-to-account payouts for European businesses. The platform fuses PSD2 Open Banking infrastructure with AI to address card-not-present (CNP) fraud and KYC/AML compliance workflows, positioning itself as a document-free alternative to traditional verification processes.

The product suite comprises four core offerings: Automated Income Verification (affordability checks drawing on up to 12 months of customer bank transaction data), Automated Card Verification (digital AML/KYC across multiple payment cards), Card-to-Account Payments and Refunds (instant bank withdrawals from card deposits), and a Back Office Dashboard for compliance and payments teams. These are packaged with industry-specific go-to-market for iGaming, e-commerce, luxury goods, and marketplaces, and are delivered as white-labelled plug-and-play API integrations.

Semla operates a B2B enterprise sales motion targeting compliance and payments teams via a contact-driven funnel, with subscription-style recurring pricing for API access. The company has stated coverage across at least six European markets (Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and Spain) and an engineering presence in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. No funding rounds, institutional investors, named customers, patents, or management team are disclosed in the available source material, and revenue is not publicly reported.

Name

Semla

Legal name

Semla

Website

https://getsemla.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Semla is a Stockholm-based fintech that provides an API-first PSD2 Open Banking platform for automated income verification, card authentication, KYC/AML compliance, and instant card-to-account payouts, serving iGaming, e-commerce, luxury, and marketplace operators across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Banking Compliance & Payment Fraud Prevention Software

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Credit Bureaus (561450)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud, Risk, KYC/AML & Compliance Platforms (BPAMAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Identity (KYC/CDD/EDD) & Onboarding (FSAMAMAA), Data, Evidence & Document Verification (IDV) for KYC (FSAMAMAN), Consumer Identity Verification (KYC) & Fraud Risk for Credit (FSAKAKAD)

Keywords

• Open banking verification
• Payment fraud prevention
• KYC compliance automation
• Income verification API
• Card authentication services

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. API-based Verification Services: Revenue generated from automated card and income verification services via PSD2 APIs. Pricing likely per-transaction or subscription-based for API access.
2. Compliance Solutions: Due-diligence automation services for compliance teams, reducing paperwork and manual verification costs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Semla provides an API-first financial data platform that automates due diligence, card verification, and income/affordability verification for compliance and payments teams. Built on PSD2 Open Banking infrastructure combined with AI, the platform digitises KYC/AML workflows, performs card-not-present fraud detection, and enables instant withdrawals from card deposits to bank accounts. Solutions are white-labelled and offered to iGaming operators, e-commerce platforms, luxury goods retailers, and online marketplaces across European markets.

Product overview

Semla offers a unified platform with multiple integrated solutions for payment fraud prevention and compliance automation. The core products include Automated Income Verification (affordability checks), Automated Card Verification (AML/KYC), Card to Account Payments and Refunds, and a Back Office Dashboard. These solutions are designed to work together: income and card verification feed into the dashboard for compliance monitoring while payment processing enables instant refunds. The platform serves four key industries—iGaming, eCommerce, Luxury Goods, and Marketplaces—using PSD2 and AI to automate due-diligence processes, reduce CNP fraud, and enhance business growth across European markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Automated Income Verification
• Automated Card Verification Digital AML and KYC solution that allows customers to easily verify multiple payment cards. Automates card-not-present (CNP) due-diligence processes via PSD2 protocols, ensuring compliance without friction for compliance and payments teams.
• Card to Account Payments and Refunds Instant withdrawals from card deposits to bank accounts via account-to-account rails, dramatically reducing payment processing cost and time compared to traditional 3-5 day card refunds. Enables compliant card pay-ins and account payouts for streamlined transaction processing.
• Back Office Dashboard A bespoke dashboard designed for compliance and payments teams, tailored to specific business needs. Surfaces cleaned and categorised customer financial data in an intuitive interface to streamline compliance monitoring and operations.
• iGaming Solutions Vertical offering tailored for iGaming operators that bundles automated card and income verification, rapid payouts from card deposits, white-labelled workflows, and player experience optimisation designed specifically for the European iGaming industry.
• eCommerce Solutions Vertical offering for eCommerce platforms combining CNP fraud protection, automated card and income verification, instant refunds to bank accounts, compliance automation, and white-labelled API integration for streamlined growth.
• Luxury Goods Solutions Vertical offering for luxury markets that reduces CNP fraud, refund costs, and reputational risk while protecting brand integrity. Prevents fraudulent purchases and secondary-market devaluation of luxury goods.
• Marketplace Solutions Vertical offering for online marketplaces covering consumer and vendor authenticity verification, risk mitigation, instant account refunds, and plug-and-play API integration with full market compliance coverage.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces CNP fraud through automated due-diligence via PSD2 and AI
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Veriff: Veriff is an identity verification platform specializing in AI-powered KYC and AML compliance for financial services, iGaming, and e-commerce. It is comparable to Semla's card verification and KYC automation capabilities, serving overlapping customer segments in Europe.
• iDenfy: iDenfy provides AI-powered identity verification, KYC, and AML compliance solutions for fintech, iGaming, and e-commerce. It is directly comparable to Semla in serving regulated verticals with automated fraud prevention and customer verification.
• TrueLayer: TrueLayer is a European Open Banking platform providing PSD2-based financial data connectivity and payment initiation for fintechs and merchants. It is directly comparable as a PSD2 infrastructure provider, though TrueLayer focuses on payment initiation and account aggregation while Semla layers compliance and verification on top of similar data.
• Sumsub: Sumsub provides an all-in-one verification platform covering KYC, KYB, AML, and fraud prevention for fintech, crypto, iGaming, and e-commerce. It directly competes with Semla in iGaming compliance, affordability checks, and payment verification, serving similar regulated European verticals.
• Salt Edge: Salt Edge is an Open Banking platform offering PSD2-compliant account aggregation, payment initiation, and data enrichment across European banks. It directly competes with Semla's Open Banking infrastructure layer and serves similar financial institutions and fintechs in Europe.
• Onfido: Onfido is a global identity verification and KYC/AML platform that automates customer onboarding using AI and document verification. It is directly comparable to Semla as both target regulated industries with automated compliance and fraud prevention solutions, though Onfido focuses more on document-based verification while Semla leverages PSD2 Open Banking.

Broad incumbents

• Plaid: Plaid is a global financial data connectivity platform enabling applications to connect with users' bank accounts. While primarily US-focused, Plaid is a broad incumbent in Open Banking infrastructure, comparable to Semla's PSD2-based verification approach, with significantly larger scale and capital.
• Klarna KYC / Open Banking services: Klarna is a major European fintech that has built its own Open Banking-based risk and verification infrastructure for consumer credit and payments. It represents a broad incumbent comparable to Semla's PSD2-based affordability and verification capabilities, with substantially greater scale and capital, though Klarna is not a direct compliance platform competitor.

Emerging players

• Persona: Persona is an identity verification platform offering flexible KYC/AML and fraud prevention tools for regulated industries. While more US-focused, it overlaps with Semla's compliance automation and customer verification use cases, particularly for marketplaces and high-value e-commerce.

Others

• Onfido (Trust Stamp alternative: Veriff already listed): Placeholder not used.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/semladigital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Semla