Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem are you solving?
Camillo Werdich, Sinpex: In Germany, around 100 billion euros are laundered every year. In order to prevent that, the German Money Laundering Act (GWG) describes processes that oblige banks and companies to legitimize new business customers. In what is known as the “know-your-customer” (KYC process), the identity of customers is established and the authorization for legal capacity is verified. To give an example, this capacity is not given to people who are on sanctions lists, such as that of the EU against Russia. And this is just one of many points that need to be verified in the KYC process. The process is extremely time-consuming at the moment. For most companies, the verification of new business partners often takes a few days or even several weeks. And that’s where we come into play with Sinpex.
The Sinpex approach is this: our cloud-based software accelerates the process many times over – what used to take days now takes minutes with Sinpex.
Munich Startup: But that’s nothing out of the box!
Camillo Werdich: So far, no one has succeeded in automating the KYC process in the B2B sector to this extent. With the end-to-end approach to our software, we reduce manual effort by up to 80 percent, which also significantly reduces costs. Moreover, thanks to artificial intelligence and natural language processing, our technology also increases the accuracy in legitimizing business relationships as this eliminates human error.
Companies such as Noventi, PWC and Deloitte use our software
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Camillo Werdich: Before founding Sinpex, I worked as a project manager at an accounting firm in the field of digitization and compliance and was responsible for the manual review of thousands of customer documents of a major bank – a seemingly endless process. After a few weeks, it became clear to me: there has to be an easier way to do this. So I wrote an initial algorithm that shortened the data comparison from weeks to a few hours. From that, I developed my own business idea and teamed up with researchers from all over the world to develop the algorithm further.
In 2019, together with our current CTO Jannik Metzner, I founded our startup Sinpex in Munich. After we won the HSG Entrepreneurial Champion Award with Sinpex, I took part in the Swissnex program in San Francisco and was able to win over the first investor with my business idea in the first two weeks in Silicon Valley. Since then, we’ve grown strongly and companies such as Noventi, PWC and Deloitte are already using our software to meet the requirements of money laundering prevention.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Camillo Werdich: It may sound like a luxury problem, but our growth is challenging at the moment. We receive many requests to automate the KYC process. It’s due to, among other things, the current sanctions against Russia, but also the new Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, which obliges companies to assess, mitigate and monitor human rights and environmental risks in the supply chain. I’m proud of how our team has performed! However, I also see the need for our team to grow organically and at the right pace as a company.
Sinpex serves “a niche that is more relevant than ever”
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, and where in five years?
Camillo Werdich: At the moment, we’re focusing on the DACH region and want to become the leading one-stop-shop for the know-your-customer process within a year. Our technology can already be used worldwide – which is why we’re also planning to grow internationally.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Camillo Werdich: Munich is a top location for us for founding a startup. On the one hand, the networking opportunities are excellent and there’s a good ecosystem with the universities. Especially for our technology-driven business model, the proximity to the Munich innovation and startup centers of the Technical University is a clear advantage over other cities like Berlin or Frankfurt. On the other hand, there’s also a local infrastructure with sufficient venture capital, as a recent study by the consulting firm EY shows.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Camillo Werdich: I would call us more of a hidden champion. The problem we solve with Sinpex is relevant to society and highly topical. Due to current developments, many companies have to reassess whether they are still allowed to do business with their existing customers. At the same time, however, our product is not intended for the masses, but is rather in the B2B sector – we serve a niche that is more relevant than ever.