Deutsche Bank backs AI-driven fintech

Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) group has invested in Kodex AI, a Berlin-based startup specialising in AI-powered solutions tailored for the financial industry. This investment comes after a collaboration that began earlier in the year through Deutsche Bank’s Entrepreneur in Residence program, which invites entrepreneurs to work with the bank to validate, develop, and scale their ideas.

Kodex AI’s co-founders, Thomas Kaiser and Claus Lang, have been collaborating with Deutsche Bank’s teams on a large language model (LLM) based specialised AI solution designed for extracting and analysing data from financial documents. The model is trained specifically for the financial industry, allowing it to understand complex technical terminology and contexts, leading to more precise analysis compared to general AI models. Notably, the solution can interpret visual elements such as tables, going beyond traditional text-based solutions.

Deutsche Bank sees potential in Kodex AI’s solution to enhance the efficiency of extracting and analysing financial data in a highly regulated industry. Gil Perez, Deutsche Bank’s Chief Innovation Officer, expressed excitement about the partnership and helping Kodex AI grow to meet the quality and security needs of the banking industry.

One specific use case being piloted within Deutsche Bank involves non-financial risk, where Kodex AI’s solution takes the form of an intelligent and user-friendly chatbot. This chatbot assists employees in quickly obtaining answers to policy-related questions and navigating through complex documents.

Kodex AI joins the bank’s CVC portfolio, following previous investments in Binalyze and Plan A. Deutsche Bank’s CVC program is a crucial component of its innovation agenda, focusing on strategic investments in startups that leverage technology to support innovative services or enhance process productivity. Joerg Landsch, Head of Central Corporate Venture Capital at Deutsche Bank, emphasised their commitment to providing capital, expertise, access, and resources to strategic investments, enabling growth and success for the startups involved.