May 29, 2019

Reuters Names illumis A “Trailblazing” Start-Up To Watch

Please Note: Since this recognition was published, Vigilant has rebranded as illumis. The post below has been updated to reflect this change:

In their annual Digital News Report, the Reuters Institute named illumis one of five “news start-ups to watch in 2019.”

“There is no shortage of start-ups looking to capitalise on new tech and audience trends,” the report notes, but five “trailblazing” start-ups stand above the rest.

“[illumis] won the 2018 Startups for News contest at the General Editors Network (GEN) conference. It brings together thousands of US public records databases in real time, making it easier for journalists to find stories. It is also starting to form the basis of new automated products like news alerts based on that data.”

In addition to thorough and efficient searches for investigative journalists, illumis also offers a fully customizable alerts system that allows for monitoring across courts, lobbying records, business filings, campaign finance data, and more. You can learn more about illumis alerts here.


In November of 2021, ComplySci announced the acquisition of illumis, a premier data aggregator and technology provider whose solutions are used by financial services firms to identify and mitigate risk from employee political contributions. While the initial acquisition saw the firms operating as two independent organizations, we are thrilled to announce the merging of the illumis and ComplySci brands. With this initiative, we aim to arm our clients with a more comprehensive solution to mitigating compliance risk, which includes the increased risk associated with employee political contributions.

Political contributions made by firm employees pose a significant threat to investment advisory firms. And even firms with the best compliance teams can be at risk of violating pay-to-play regulations, like the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rule 206(4)-5, given the complexity of the rules and the myriad of regulations to which firms must comply.

Because of this, investment firms must arm themselves with the access to and support of real-time data, which can help identify potential violations and anomalies in the political donation process.

By leveraging real-time data, investment firms can quickly detect suspicious or unauthorized activities and take prompt action to prevent pay-to-play violations.

SEC Rule 206(4)-5 is arguably the most well known regulation regarding political contributions compliance or pay-to-play compliance. However, it certainly isn’t the only regulation to which firms must comply.

In fact, beyond federal regulations, firms which take part in government contracted work must contend with numerous and varied state and local regulations as well. Such regulations present unique challenges because of the various requirements within each, which should they be neglected, can cause significant financial and reputational damage.