ENCOMPASS Corporation, an Australian data analytics firm that opened a UK base in Glasgow last year, has received £3.6 million funding to accelerate the expansion of its rapidly growing operations.

The funding was led by Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, which has committed £1.8 million to the business. Co-investment came from Sydney-based Adcock Private Equity Group.

Wayne Johnson, co-founder and chief executive of Encompass, said: “The overwhelming support by Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Investment Bank will ensure that Encompass can speed up its expansion and support the company’s growth in Glasgow.”

The Glasgow business opened in May 2015 with a £2.2m investment, including a £357,000 regional selective assistance support provided by Scottish Enterprise. Since opening, staff numbers across the UK have grown to 30 and the client list is 25 strong.

Founded in 2012 in Australia, Encompass provides analytics software for financial and professional service firms, enabling them to quickly gain insight into the consumer and business customer.

In 2014, compliance firm SAI Global acquired the right to sell Encompass products in Australia leading the company to seek expansion into international markets.

“The UK had the closest similarities in terms of regulation and legislation,” said Alex Ford, vice president, marketing and operations, who relocated to Glasgow from Sydney to open the office.

“Lawyers, accountants and bankers were using the same sort of data to do the same sort of checks on the companies they dealt with in the UK.”

A conversation with Scotland Development International – prompted by one of the company's investors being Scottish – convinced the businesses’ founders that their future lay in Glasgow, some 10,500 miles away.

Kerry Sharp, head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said “Encompass is a great example of the innovative companies that Scottish Enterprise is keen to attract to Scotland and the investment will allow the company to expand and develop its Glasgow operation."

With tools aimed at financial services, legal and insolvency firms, the Encompass platform collates information on businesses from multiple sources and provides clear information that allows users to better understand complex commercial situations, to manage risk and compliance.

The latest injection of funding will enable Encompass to speed up integration with more data partners, which already include the likes of Companies House and the Land Registry.

Data from the 12 providers currently working with Encompass allow professional firms to immediately carry out legal and regulatory checks regarding the disclosed, or even hidden financial assets, of individuals and companies.

Mr Johnson said the company would be able to “fast track” its product development, focusing specifically on Encompass Confirm, a soon to be launched solution for financial services firms.

Confirm will help firms ensure they comply with money laundering and know your customer (KYC) regulations. These are checks that financial institutions carry out to verify the integrity of clients as part of anti-corruption due-diligence procedures.

Ms Ford added: “We had feedback about KYC and anti-money laundering checks with clients saying it gave them a headache, operationally,” she said.

“Responding to that, we see and Confirm helping address that challenge in financial services. It hones in on the opportunity in financial services where there tends to be higher volume, overnight checks.”

It is these KYC regulations that Ms Ford believes will aid the company’s international expansion.

“Our immediate term focus is on the KYC challenge. Ultimately, it has global application. While insolvency might be different in the US, in finance a lot of big firms are taking a global approach to KYC. The banks have their branches in the US, so we think the software applies to their business too and we hope to get the US in the next 12-18 months.”