Bretton AI raises $75 million to use AI for financial crime prevention

The startup is upending anti-money laundering compliance at top financial firms with new funding from Sapphire Ventures and Greylock Partners.

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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Bretton AI, founded by former Facebook and PayPal employee Will Lawrence, has raised $75 million in Series B funding led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from Greylock Partners, Thomson Reuters Ventures, and Citi Ventures. The startup is using AI to tackle the complex task of financial risk remediation, going beyond basic risk reduction to investigate suspicious transactions and determine if they violate a company's internal policies.

Why it matters

Financial services have long been a challenging arena for AI companies, as the stakes are much higher than in other industries. However, Bretton's focus on compliance and anti-money laundering presents an opportunity to apply AI to a critical need within the financial sector, potentially making compliance operations more efficient and effective.

The details

Bretton AI, previously called Greenlite, was founded by Will Lawrence, who previously worked on anti-money laundering at Facebook and the compliance team at Paxos. The startup is tackling the complex task of financial risk remediation, going beyond basic risk reduction to investigate suspicious transactions and determine if they violate a company's internal policies. The company has already signed on customers ranging from fintech startups to community regional banks.

  • Bretton AI was founded less than three years ago, after Lawrence decided to apply AI to financial compliance following his experience at Facebook and Paxos.
  • The startup has now raised a $75 million Series B funding round, led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from existing investor Greylock Partners as well as Thomson Reuters Ventures and Citi Ventures.

The players

Bretton AI

A startup founded by former Facebook and PayPal employee Will Lawrence, using AI to tackle the complex task of financial risk remediation and anti-money laundering compliance.

Will Lawrence

The founder of Bretton AI, who previously worked on anti-money laundering at Facebook and the compliance team at Paxos.

Sapphire Ventures

The venture capital firm that led Bretton AI's $75 million Series B funding round.

Greylock Partners

The venture capital firm that participated in Bretton AI's Series B funding round, having previously backed the company in its seed and Series A rounds.

Thomson Reuters Ventures

The venture capital arm of the media and information company Thomson Reuters, which participated in Bretton AI's Series B funding.

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What they’re saying

“When compliance businesses reach scale, sometimes they can get smarter because they're seeing data across the entire industry.”

— Seth Rosenberg, General Partner, Greylock (Fortune)

“The easy thing is to go sell marketing AI. The hard thing is to solve things that really matter.”

— Will Lawrence, Founder, Bretton AI (Fortune)

What’s next

Bretton AI plans to continue expanding its customer base, which currently includes fintech startups and community regional banks, as it looks to scale its AI-powered compliance and anti-money laundering solutions across the financial services industry.

The takeaway

Bretton AI's success in raising $75 million in Series B funding demonstrates the growing demand for AI-driven solutions to tackle the complex challenges of financial compliance and anti-money laundering, which have long been a pain point for the financial services industry.