When Ancoa, a UK-based market surveillance startup, was snapped up by Swedish software firm Cinnober in May 2017, the deal was widely viewed as a lifeline.

That was not to say that Ancoa did not have a viable product or good people in its team. But Cinnober confirmed that Ancoa was running out of funding fast, and it had little choice but to be acquired. Due to the challenges of selling a regtech product to banks — the average sale cycle is a lengthy 12 to 24 months — many regtechs are simply running out of money before they can complete a deal.