Vigilant AI, a Derby-based startup focused on regulatory compliance in artificial intelligence workflows, has raised £585,000 in pre-seed funding to close what it calls the “trust gap” in enterprise AI adoption.
The round was led by Haatch, a venture capital firm specialising in B2B SaaS, with participation from the East Midlands Combined Authority and the British Business Bank.
The funding will support the recruitment of engineers and go-to-market specialists, as well as the refinement of Vigilant AI’s platform ahead of a broader market launch. The company aims to convert several pilot projects into commercial deployments by the end of 2025.
Founded by Mark Wood and Mike Anyfantakis, Vigilant AI targets a persistent problem in industries such as financial services and healthcare: how to deploy generative AI tools without breaching governance or regulatory standards.
The company’s platform introduces “AI Teammates”, embedded systems that operate within real-time compliance frameworks. These frameworks are designed to monitor, audit, and log AI activity continuously, ensuring that automated decisions remain traceable and compliant.
Unlike existing governance tools such as ServiceNow GRC or MetricStream, which operate primarily as oversight layers, Vigilant AI’s model integrates compliance directly into the workflow. This approach, the founders argue, allows firms to adopt AI systems faster while maintaining auditability and sector-specific regulatory adherence.
“Many regulated firms have the appetite for AI-driven productivity but lack the infrastructure to guarantee oversight,” said Mark Wood, Vigilant AI’s co-founder and CTO. “Our platform enables AI to be deployed safely, with compliance and accountability built in from the start.”
Regulators across the UK and EU are drafting frameworks that require transparency in how AI systems are trained, tested, and monitored, a trend that may increase demand for solutions like Vigilant AI’s.
“Vigilant AI addresses one of the biggest barriers to AI adoption in regulated industries: demonstrable trust,” said Fred Soneya, partner at Haatch. “Their real-time compliance layer is precisely what our fintech and financial-services partners have been asking for.”
The company’s short-term goal is to expand its engineering and client-success teams, while long-term plans include scaling the product across multiple verticals beyond financial services.
Early feedback from pilot clients has been positive, with firms expressing interest in integrating Vigilant AI’s system into existing enterprise workflows.
The funding comes amid broader momentum in the UK’s AI sector, bolstered by government-backed initiatives aimed at promoting responsible AI development.
According to data from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, AI investment in the UK reached record highs in 2024, with governance and compliance emerging as key focus areas for both investors and regulators.
