How to integrate a whistleblower software in 5 minutes

Maraja Fistanic
22. February 2021

Frankfurt-based start-up LegalTegrity protects SMEs from legal violations and financial damages

LegalTegrity simplifies whistleblower protection with a secure plug & play solution
The Frankfurt-based start-up closes its first round of financing with one million euros
As of year end, the EU Whistleblower Directive obliges companies to protect whistleblowers

Frankfurt, 22 February 2021 – Whistleblowers who uncover misconduct in their own company have an important role: they are like an “early warning system” and can protect their employer from scandals and violations of the law and thus protect its reputation. However, whistleblowers are often not sufficiently protected. The Frankfurt-based start-up LegalTegrity has developed a secure software-as-a-service solution to significantly simplify whistleblower protection – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs can easily integrate the solution into their workflows and business processes.

As a plug & play solution, the LegalTegrity application is available without complex IT integration and can be used immediately after booking. It can be accessed from any internet-enabled device via a link and is GDPR-compliant and securely located in the Deutsche Telekom cloud. Dr. Thomas Altenbach, CEO and founder of LegalTegrity explains: “Whistleblower solutions are a real opportunity for companies and necessary to lead companies to sustainable success. They promote transparency and increase trust in management. We want to support companies with our simple and straightforward solution – it improves corporate culture and protects whistleblowers at the same time. This lowers the threshold for reporting observed misconduct. This in turn reduces the business risk for companies”.

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LegalTegrity closes financing round of one million euros

LegalTegrity was founded in September 2019 and currently has a client base of around 20 companies. Among them are several prestigious law firms that rely on the compliance expertise of the company led by Dr. Thomas Altenbach, including a law firm with more than 500 lawyers. The company has just completed its first round of financing. LegalTegrity received 400,000 euros from BM H Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH via the Beteiligungsfonds Hessen Kapital III (EFRE) GmbH, a fund it manages, as well as 600,000 euros from private and institutional investors, such as DLE Holding AG.

Stephan Groß Investment Manager at BM H Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH: “Having impressed us with their innovative whistleblowing solution and scalable go-to-market approach, we decided to invest in LegalTegrity and thus bestow our trust in them. LegalTegrity’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution allows companies to reduce risk and comply with upcoming legal regulations. The founders impressed us with their depth of knowledge and expertise of the legal tech market, and we found that their whistleblowing solution is very safe as a result. We, therefore, advise our portfolio companies to use LegalTegrity as their whistleblowing solution of choice.”

“We pursue an important goal together with our partners and investors: to make whistleblower protection easy to implement for small and medium-sized companies. With the investments, we will continuously drive product optimisation for our customers and further expand our sales,” emphasises Dr. Thomas Altenbach, CEO of LegalTegrity.

The EU Whistleblower Directive came into force on 16 December 2019. By December 2021 the directive obliges all companies throughout the EU with more than 50 employees or a turnover of 10 million euros or more to create a secure way for them to report misconduct in the company. Experts and observers now fear a similar uncertainty compared to the introduction and implementation of the EU GDPR. SMEs in particular, which have neither the human nor the financial resources, face a major challenge in this regard.

By using a whistleblower software, however, SMEs can protect themselves simply and reliably. This enables them to implement the requirements of the EU Whistleblower Directive without great effort and intervention in their IT structure. Moreover, such a solution protects them from scandals and violations of the law and at the same time guarantees whistleblowers protection and anonymity.

How the whistleblower solution for SMEs works

LegalTegrity’s whistleblowing solution works like a digital locker accessible from two sides. Employees of the company receive a code and set their own PIN before submitting a report. They need both to log into the locker again. To ensure their anonymity, no personal data is collected when logging in. Employees can submit a report by phone or online.

This information is checked by a designated person in the company or an external person in charge, who is given second access to the locker. LegalTegrity’s solution ensures that each report is followed up and the whistleblower is informed about the status of the report.

About BM H Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH

BM H Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH provides equity capital in the form of open and silent participations to start-ups and SMEs in Hessen through various funds (including Hessen Kapital III (EFRE) GmbH) as part of Hessen’s economic development programme. Further information at: www.bmh-hessen.de

About LegalTegrity

LegalTegrity GmbH is a legal tech start-up based in Frankfurt and was founded in September 2019 by compliance professional Dr Thomas Altenbach (CEO), organisational development specialist Pia Michel (COO) and Maraja Fistanic, MBA (CMO), an expert in marketing in the legal industry. The company offers a digital whistleblower solution as a software-as-a-service product and specialises in particular in small and medium-sized enterprises. LegalTegrity currently employs 17 people in Frankfurt am Main. Further information under: www.legaltegrity.com