Our Story

Built by Compliance Professionals,
For Accounting Firms

verifyAU was founded in 2023 by a team of former AUSTRAC officials, Big 4 compliance partners, and fintech engineers who saw the compliance burden the AML/CTF expansion would place on thousands of Australian accounting firms — and decided to do something about it.

Our Mission

Make AUSTRAC Compliance Accessible to Every Accounting Firm

The AML/CTF expansion affects an estimated 15,000+ Australian accounting firms. Most of them are small practices without a dedicated compliance team. They're facing a complex new regulatory obligation with a hard deadline and no obvious place to start.

verifyAU exists to change that. We've taken the complexity of AUSTRAC compliance — the enrolment, the programme documentation, the client verification, the risk assessment, the reporting — and built a platform that makes it manageable for any firm, regardless of size.

  • AUSTRAC enrolled in under 15 minutes
  • AML/CTF programme generated by AI in under 3 minutes
  • Clients verified in under 60 seconds
  • Zero AUSTRAC penalties for verifyAU customers

1,240+

Firms Enrolled

28,400+

Clients Verified

4,800+

SMRs Filed

$0

AUSTRAC Penalties

Our Values

These aren't just words on a wall — they shape every product decision we make.

Compliance-First

Every feature is built with AUSTRAC's guidance front of mind. We don't cut corners — and neither should you.

Australian Data Sovereignty

All data lives in Australian data centres. No offshore transfers. Privacy Act 1988 compliant from day one.

Built for Accountants

We're not generic compliance software. We understand how accounting firms operate — and we've built every workflow to match.

Transparent Pricing

No surprise fees. No per-seat nonsense. You know exactly what you'll pay before you sign up.

The Team

Deep Expertise at Every Level

LS

Lachlan Saunders

CEO & Co-founder

Former Partner at Deloitte Australia. 18 years in financial crime compliance and regulatory affairs. Led AUSTRAC engagement programmes for Big 4 clients.

PN

Priya Nair

CTO & Co-founder

Former VP Engineering at Airwallex. Built real-time identity verification infrastructure processing 2M+ checks per month across APAC.

TH

Thomas Healy

Head of Compliance

Former AUSTRAC policy analyst. Principal author of firm-facing AML/CTF guidance documents. CAMS certified, ACAMS Fellow.

MZ

Mei Zhang

Head of Product

Former product lead at MYOB. Spent 6 years building compliance and practice management tools for Australian accountants and bookkeepers.

Our Journey

2023

verifyAU founded in Melbourne after the government announced the AML/CTF expansion to the accounting sector.

Jan 2024

Seed round of AUD $3.2M led by Blackbird Ventures. First 20 pilot accounting firms onboarded.

Jul 2024

DVS and One Click Services API integration live. First 1,000 client verifications processed.

Jan 2025

Professional plan launched. 200+ firms enrolled. AML/CTF Policy Builder AI feature launched.

Jun 2025

Series A of AUD $12M raised. Team grows to 28. Enterprise plan and white-label features launched.

Apr 2026

1,240+ accounting firms enrolled. 28,400+ clients verified. 79 days to the AUSTRAC deadline.

Backed by

Blackbird Ventures
Square Peg Capital
AirTree Ventures

Ready to Work With Us?

Join 1,240+ accounting firms trusting verifyAU for their AUSTRAC compliance.