Calvin Risk among the top 100: Swiss start-up shapes the global AI FinTech landscape

The Zurich-based start-up Calvin Risk has been included in the prestigious “AIFinTech100 List 2025”. With its platform for quality assurance and governance of AI systems, the company is positioning itself as a key player in the area of tension between innovation and regulation – particularly for banks and insurers.

Calvin Risk is now one of the 100 most important AI FinTech companies in the world. The annual ranking published by FinTech Global honors companies that are changing the financial industry with artificial intelligence. Calvin Risk was selected by a panel of experts from over 2,000 candidates in recognition of its pioneering work in AI risk management and compliance.

“We are honored to be recognized as a global leader in AI risk management,” says Julian Riebartsch, CEO and co-founder of Calvin Risk. The company is only a few years old, but it has already achieved considerable milestones in 2025: a successful seed capital round of four million US dollars, millions in funding from Innosuisse and growing visibility at international industry events.

What Calvin Risk does differently and how growing regulation will change the role of AI governance in the future

Calvin Risk’s platform promises to bridge the gap between technical excellence and regulatory responsibility. The solution provides financial institutions with a comprehensive set of tools for the automated evaluation and monitoring of their AI models. The focus is on aspects such as distortions, hallucinations or performance deviations as well as adaptation to international regulatory standards.

“With regulations such as the EU AI Act, the guidelines of BaFin, FINMA or the EBA, AI governance is moving from a to a strategic must at board level,” says Julian.” “In future, financial institutions will have to provide evidence of transparent, explainable and verifiable AI systems – especially if they affect critical business processes.” In the coming years, AI governance will become an integral part of risk management, compliance and IT strategy. Calvin Risk sees itself as an enabler here: it helps companies to gain regulatory certainty without sacrificing the speed of innovation.

Concrete challenges for banks and insurers in dealing with generative AI models?

“Many institutions are currently facing three key challenges,” says Julian.

• Lack of transparency and explainability: Generative models such as LLMs are often considered a black box, which makes them difficult to validate in a regulatory context.
• Model drift and hallucinations: Without targeted monitoring, such models can lose accuracy over time or generate erroneous content.
• Lack of standards and tools: Many companies have neither the internal resources nor tools to systematically evaluate and document generative AI.

This is precisely where Calvin Risk offers structured support – with a modular system that makes risks measurable and AI systems auditable.

How does Calvin Risk plan to scale its platform internationally in the future – even beyond Europe?

The company’s current focus is on the European market, particularly in the DACH region and the UK, where it is already working with leading banks and insurers. At the same time, it can be observed that increasing demand from Scandinavia, where the level of maturity in dealing with AI is high and regulation is also gaining in importance.

“In the next step, we will further internationalize our platform – including through multilingual modules, regional partnerships and the targeted expansion of our activities in markets with a high affinity for AI and a regulatory focus,” says Julian. Her goal is to establish Calvin Risk as the leading platform for AI governance in the financial sector – technology-driven, scalable and internationally connectable.

Trust is the new currency

The selection for the AIFinTech100 shows that quality, governance and risk management are no longer niche issues, but crucial success factors for the AI strategies of major financial players. Calvin Risk positions itself here as a strategic partner with a clear promise: Innovation without loss of control.

Binci Heeb

Read also: Calvin Risk: Innovative AI governance and risk management for companies