Founded in 2023, Baselayer dramatically reduces the cost and risk for financial institutions to service SMB Clients

New York, NY (September 4, 2024) – The American Fintech Council (AFC), the premier industry association representing responsible fintech companies and innovative banks, today announced the addition of Baselayer as its newest member. Founded by experienced fintech entrepreneurs, Baselayer reduces friction in Know Your Business (KYB) reviews for small to midsize companies and mitigates B2B fraud. Baselayer leverages artificial intelligence to manage a centralized system for privacy-compliant data sharing between financial institutions, aligning with AFC’s mission to promote a more responsible and inclusive financial system.

“Baselayer is utilizing groundbreaking technology to set new standards for fraud identification and security in the lending industry,” said Phil Goldfeder, Chief Executive Officer of AFC. “By quickly confirming the identity of each applicant and analyzing potential risk factors in real time, Baselayer is redefining how responsible financial institutions serve their business customers and communities. We are proud to welcome Baselayer to AFC and look forward to partnering on efforts to support responsible, customer-centric innovation.”

Baselayer emerged from stealth this spring with a $6.5 million seed round after signing almost 40 financial institution customers in six months, including a top five loan infrastructure system. Despite fintech funding reaching its lowest level since 2017, the company’s seed round was 5x oversubscribed and raised capital from some of the industry’s leading players, signaling continued growth for the sector as responsible institutions recognize the need for technological advancements to improve security and decrease fraud.

“Baselayer is built for financial institutions, by financial institutions, inspired by problems our team experienced firsthand,” said Jonathan Awad, CEO and Co-Founder of Baselayer. “By eliminating data-sharing silos & automating lengthy KYB reviews, Baselayer helps banks and lenders support small and midsize businesses with more security and a better customer experience than ever before.”

A standards-based organization, AFC is the premier trade association representing the largest financial technology (Fintech) companies and innovative BaaS banks. AFC’s mission is to promote a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system by supporting responsible innovation in financial services and encouraging sound public policy. AFC members foster competition in consumer finance and pioneer products to better serve underserved consumer segments and geographies.

About Baselayer

Baselayer is the first universal database on business identity and activity. Risk and compliance teams rely on Baselayer to eliminate friction and losses from working with American businesses.

Industry veterans and entrepreneurs Timothy Hyde & Jonathan Awad Co-Founded Baselayer in 2023. Baselayer impacts over 5% of the American GDP each year via the small businesses they reach. To learn more about how you can accelerate America’s GDP, visit www.baselayerhq.com.

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