Light uses artificial intelligence to automate the funding and accounting capabilities of a company.
Light
Danish startuplight is the latest in a range of European high-tech companies raising cash as venture capitalists are looking for the next big thing in artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2022, Light uses AI to develop software that automates the various functions that exist within a company’s finance team, including accounting, bookkeeping, and financial reporting.
Copenhagen headquarters told CNBC it raised $30 million in a Series A funding round led by FinTech Unicorns Revolut and Gocardless early investors Balderton Capital.
Atomico, Cherry Ventures, Seedcamp and Antrée Capital have also invested in the round, including Faith co-founder Thomas Wolf and Meta Board member Charlie Sonhurst;
Light will use cash to “double the commercial side” of its business, Jonathan Sanders, CEO and co-founder of Light, told CNBC. The startup recently opened an office in London and says it plans to open an office in New York to meet the demand for us.
Light is not the only startup that uses AI to streamline a company’s funding and accounting processes.
Last year, Pigment, a business planning and forecasting platform designed to be more user-friendly than Microsoft Excel, raised $145 million with a $1 billion north valuation. More recently, accounting software startup Pennylane raised 75 million euros ($88.4 million), doubling its valuation to 2 billion euros.
Currently, the market for software that helps businesses manage their finances is dominated by industry giants Microsoft, Oracle and Sap. However, these systems can often be troublesome, and specialists require you to tinker with the edges for a year or two to make it work.
“We serve fast-growing companies. Light’s customers include Lovable, Sana Labs, a Swedish AI company that has recently been worth $2 billion.
Sanders said AI can quickly change how companies handle their finances. “The future of numbers is text,” he says. Instead of sifting through company policies to find a team meal allowance, for example, this can be automated by an AI agent with access to relevant documents.
Sanders said Light wants to focus on large, corporate-level customers struggling with “broken processes and workflows.” “We cannot continually analyze, adjust or update thousands of pages of policies for consistency,” he told CNBC.
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