Locstat Secures €2.5M to Expand Graph AI Solutions from Africa to Europe
South African artificial intelligence company Locstat has secured €2.5 million (US$2.3 million) in a pre-Series A funding round to advance its market expansion plans in the United Kingdom and European Union, while deepening its operations across Africa as a key growth region.
The funding round was spearheaded by Portugal Gateway Fund (PGF) and joined by ANZA Capital, marking a pivotal moment for the Cape Town-based startup as it readies to expand its graph-based AI and complex event processing (CEP) solutions into international markets.
Established in 2016, Locstat developed an AI-driven platform that leverages graph databases and event stream processing to interpret both real-time and static data, empowering organizations to uncover and respond to complex, interconnected insights.
The company’s flagship platform enables clients to identify fraud, track customer behavior, apply real-time business rules, and conduct geo-spatial analytics, all driven by the hidden relationships between data points that conventional systems typically overlook. Through AI-based modeling of dynamic, complex datasets, Locstat provides actionable intelligence across multiple industries.
“Our goal is to transform complex, interconnected data into meaningful decisions that drive real-world impact,” stated Ryno Goosen, co-founder and CEO of Locstat. “This funding enables us to scale a South African-born solution, proven in some of the continent’s toughest conditions — to international markets with renewed confidence.”
Locstat has established a solid product-market fit within Africa’s financial services sector, enabling banks and fintechs to combat fraud, money laundering, compliance challenges, and risk management with greater speed and accuracy.
The company intends to scale its European operations, establish strategic local partnerships, and boost revenue, all while reinforcing its South African workforce and strengthening its regional partner network.
Erik van Veen, General Partner at PGF, stated, “Locstat embodies the type of company we invest in a skilled leadership team, groundbreaking technology, and bold global aspirations. We recognize immense promise in their graph database innovation and are confident in their capacity to expand across Europe. This marks a solid step toward a successful Series A within the next two years.”
The new funding will drive team expansion, strengthen partner networks, and advance product innovation, all aimed at enabling clients to “identify risks earlier, respond faster, and capture value beyond the limits of legacy systems,” Goosen said.
The investment also underscores the growing investor appetite for graph AI and real-time analytics solutions, as organizations in finance, security, and logistics pursue quicker, more sophisticated insights to enhance decision-making.
