Regtech Commugen seeks seed funding to support Asia entry

Commugen, an Israeli technology company that provides tools to help financial institutions and governments manage their I.T., including cyber security and compliance, plans to raise seed funding this year.

The goal of the funding is both to improve the mobile version of the company’s offering, as well as to support its entry into Singapore, Poland and eventually the U.S., says Eyal Sassoon, CEO.

He claims Commugen provides software for a third of Israel’s financial institutions, as well as various ministries. The company’s origins are in the government’s military intelligence division, which hires a lot of computer scientists and mathematicians.

“I came out of that environment,” Sassoon told DigFin.

He set up a software company in 1999 called Community Generator, which ultimately failed, but out of that came Commugen in 2013. The difference is the technology: Commugen works with no-code software.

No-code
Low-code platforms allow companies to build apps with minimum coding, including at the enterprise level, by using intuitive visualization. They are ‘low’ code because some programming is required, particularly if a client wants a customized version. No-code platforms are designed to remove coding from generic apps and make even highly customized, niche apps easier to build through intuitive visual tools.

“We provide management with an overview, to help the C-suite drive operations and analyze data,” Sassoon said. “We help them manage the I.T. department, and give I.T. people insight into how things like cyber-security works.”

It also helps management get a better idea of how I.T. budgets are being spent, he added. “No-code could transform how financial institutions innovate.”

The company is looking to raise up to $4 million in a seed round by the end of 2017, with a Series A possible after that. “We want to scale outside of Israel,” Sassoon said.

Although Commugen works with several big-four consultants in Israel, it needs to develop similar relationships in Singapore and elsewhere in order to obtain more introductions to banks, insurance companies and other potential clients.

Procurement is another area of expertise: the company works for the Israeli justice ministry to bring transparency to its internal processes and combat corruption, Sassoon said.