The platform provides the infrastructure to manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, preventing delays for estate agents & letting agents, law firms & conveyancers, and financial services companies

UK fintech Kord, the end-to-end platform making onboarding clients, identity verification, and payment processing simpler and more secure, has raised £6.4 million in Series A funding. This latest round, bringing the company’s total funding to £9 million, was led by Guinness Ventures with participation from Beringea, SFC Capital, and angel investors. The investment will be used to continue growing the Kord team and drive product development to support new customer acquisition.

When high-value transactions like property sales or legal settlements fall through due to administrative delays, it costs the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds. Annually, over half a million failed housing deals alone account for a £950m economic hit and cost consumers £560m. Kord enables businesses in regulated industries to safely verify customer identities and complete transactions digitally without delays. The company replaces a patchwork of legacy tools by unifying ID verification, anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance checks, onboarding and document signing, and payment processing into a single platform. This enables clients to accelerate onboarding, save money, and stay compliant in an ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

Regulated by the FCA, Kord is used by estate agents & letting agents, law firms & conveyancers, and financial services companies. The platform provides the financial infrastructure to manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, including secure digital wallets and dedicated bank accounts for law firms and regulated entities to safely hold and manage client money. API-driven and easy to integrate, Kord also helps counter AI-enabled fraud by verifying client documents against a broader range of data sources.

Following a recent corporate rebranding of its B2B operations to Kord, the company will maintain the trusted Checkboard name for its consumer-facing app.

James Owusu, CEO and Founder of Kord, said, “For firms in regulated industries, relying on fragmented legacy systems that fail to meet the demands of modern digital commerce slows transaction speeds and increases risk. We created Kord to change that. Our modular tech stack is built with independent, interchangeable components, enabling flexibility and adaptability for our clients as we scale. This new funding allows us to protect more businesses and develop new capabilities. I'm incredibly excited for our next stage of growth.

Malcolm King, Chief Investment Officer at Guinness Ventures, said: “Every high-value transaction depends on trust, yet the systems underpinning many regulated industries remain fragmented, manual and increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated fraud. Kord has built the infrastructure layer that modern businesses need: combining identity verification, compliance and payments into a single platform that dramatically improves both security and efficiency. We were impressed by the ambition of James and the team, their pace of execution and the scale of the opportunity ahead. We believe Kord has the potential to define this category in the UK and beyond, and we're delighted to lead this round.”

Kiu Kim, Investment Director at Beringea, said: “Kord is solving a real and growing challenge for businesses operating in regulated industries. The business is delivering clear and tangible value to customers, and its platform has become a critical part of their day-to-day operations. James and the team have demonstrated an ability to deliver growth at pace and there is now a significant market to address, and we look forward to supporting the business as it capitalises on this opportunity.”