HSBC Asset Management takes equity stake in AI startup Model ML
HSBC Asset Management takes equity stake in AI startup Model ML #
HSBC Asset Management has taken an equity stake in Model ML, a London-based startup building what it describes as an agentic operating system for financial services firms. The investment came through HSBC AM’s venture capital strategy, a fund-of-funds programme within the firm’s $81 billion Alternatives platform that also makes direct co-investments into venture-backed companies.
Model ML was founded less than two years ago by two brothers, including CEO and co-founder Chaz Englander, and has raised more than $100 million in total capital. That includes a seed round and a $75 million Series A, with the HSBC AM equity stake coming as the company looks to expand.
The platform serves banks, asset managers, and advisory firms. Rather than relying on a single AI model, it routes tasks to whichever underlying model is best suited for each job, coordinating multiple systems across complex financial workflows while maintaining governance, accuracy, and consistency. The company argues that as enterprise AI adoption matures, competitive advantage lies less in which model a firm uses and more in the software layer that coordinates models at scale.
Englander said the investment reflected “growing confidence in vertical AI for financial services” and that “the differentiator is increasingly the software that can orchestrate multiple models across complex financial workflows.”
Patrick Sixsmith, who leads venture capital at HSBC Asset Management, said the investment fit the firm’s focus on AI-driven companies.
Large financial institutions have increasingly moved investment toward specialist AI platforms built for regulated, workflow-heavy environments, shifting away from general-purpose model providers. Model ML says its client base already spans many of the world’s leading financial institutions.
Copy link