Themis, a certified B-Corp focused on the use of AI in tackling financial crime, has announced the acquisition of Edinburgh-based fraud monitoring company Pasabi.

The transaction, which received approval under the UK Home Office National Security and Investment Act 2021, will integrate Pasabi’s fraud prevention platform into Themis’ operations. According to the company, this will accelerate its product roadmap by several years and broaden its capabilities in fraud detection, social media monitoring and transaction monitoring.

Founded in 2017, Pasabi employs teams across the UK and Europe. The companies said the integration has already been completed and that cultural alignment between the two organisations helped support the process. The deal was backed by Quadri Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in enterprise software companies worldwide.

Themis’ platform now incorporates AI, machine learning and behavioural analytics to address fraud alongside other financial crimes. This builds on recent product releases including a KYC Customer Risk Calculator, an onboarding platform, and the launch of Themis AI Investigator – described as a specialist large language model for financial crime, unveiled in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

Figures from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimate that more than 2.7% of global GDP is lost annually to money laundering and other forms of financial crime. Themis said its objective is to reduce the criminal exploitation of people, businesses and the environment.

“Themis has always aimed to reduce the global impacts of financial crime,” said Dickon Johnstone, CEO of Themis.

“This acquisition turbocharges that mission. By embedding AI at the core of our platform, we’re making it harder than ever for criminals to hide, and easier than ever for businesses to protect themselves and society. We are building the future of compliance – one that works for everyone.”

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Chris James, Managing Partner of Quadri Ventures, commented: “Themis has emerged as a leader in AI-driven financial crime prevention, combining deep expertise with strong and accelerating enterprise adoption. We are proud to back this acquisition, which significantly advances their fraud monitoring and behavioural analytics capabilities, and we look forward to supporting their next stage of growth.”

Chris Downie, CEO and co-founder of Pasabi, said: “We’re thrilled to become part of Themis. Not only are we culturally aligned, with a shared devotion to combating fraud and financial crime, our platform is a perfect complement to Themis’ leading ecosystem. Advances in AI have changed the game and, if deployed well, are tipping the balance in favour of the crime fighters.

“Our proprietary fraud detection platform, deploying AI agents to be perpetually scanning for suspicious activity, combined with Themis’ proven leading suite of due diligence and AFC tools, will help businesses, NGOs and governments to protect themselves and their customers from criminal activity like never before.”