A startup that's helping big banks tackle one of the most vexing problems on Wall Street has landed $38 million in backing

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein speaks at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017.

• Visible Alpha, a technology company that aims to help banks excel in a MiFID world, landed $38 million in a fundraise led by Goldman Sachs.
• The firm counts a slew of Wall Street banks including Bank of America, Citi, and Morgan Stanley, as backers.

MiFID II, a European regulatory overhaul with far reaching implications on Wall Street research, has arrived. And now banks are asking themselves how they can make their research stand out.

To help answer that question, a group of big banks led by Goldman Sachs has poured $38 million into Visible Alpha, a financial technology startup, in a fundraising round announced Thursday. The company seeks to provide research units with technology to enhance the value of their research, and help investors figure out how much research is worth to them. The company's platform allows buyside clients to keep track of calls with analysts and the value of research notes, for instance.

"Visible Alpha empowers investment professionals to redefine their research experience with technology that brings relevant and quantified insights to the forefront," said Scott Rosen, chief executive of Visible Alpha, in a statement.

MiFID II requires banks on the continent to unbundle their services. As such, they can't charge for trade execution, research, and other services in one package.

"We are looking to help them differentiate themselves and tell stories in a way that is valuable," Rosen told Business Insider.

Other backers of the company include Royal Bank of Canada, Santander, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley.