Financial automation software startup Numeric, officially known as Velocity Labs Inc., said today it has closed on an early-stage round of funding worth $28 million.

The Series A round was led by Menlo Ventures and comes just five months after the company raised $10 million in a seed funding round. New investors IVP and Socii Capital, plus existing backers such as Founders Fund, 8VC and Long Journey also participated in the round.

The company has created an artificial intelligence-infused platform that’s designed to address one of the most persistent challenges in accounting work, namely the error-prone and time-consuming process of organizing and reconciling financial data.

According to Numeric, its software uses AI algorithms to automate business-critical month-end workflows, monitoring financial information in real-time and generating reports to explain fluctuations in the numbers.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Numeric co-founder and chief Executive Parker Gilbert explained that Numeric can shave hours and even days off the time it takes to perform monthly book closings. The software works by aggregating and reconciling data from various accounting systems and Excel spreadsheets, before overlaying that information using an AI agent.

The agent is tasked with looking at how each line item changed compared with the previous month. If it identifies an outlier or some other unexpected variation, it will create a report that explains the anomaly. In this way, it can save accountants from performing hours of manual work to document variance in a company’s accounts.

In addition, the company has created a generative AI accounting co-pilot, which can help accountants save time by responding to any questions they have about their accounts. Users simply type their question in natural language, and Numeric’s AI technical accounting co-pilot will find the answers they seek.

Numeric reckons its platform is seeing some impressive traction, with its annual recurring revenue growing fourfold in the last year off an undisclosed base. It has also bagged some high-profile clients along the way, including OpenAI, Plaid Inc. and Brex Inc., highlighting the demand for its platform.

“We’re enabling accounting teams to move beyond being scorekeepers in spreadsheets,” Gilbert said. “Our goal is to empower them to provide strategic guidance that drives business forward.”

Numeric says AI is paving the way to a future in which accountants are no longer just preparers of data, but strategic reviewers, and believes this can transform the way businesses approach financial management and make decisions.

The startup faces competition from other innovative accounting software companies such as Blackline Inc. and FloQast Inc., but its AI-native approach sets it apart from those rivals, as does its ability to synthesize large volumes of data and deliver insights that can aid in decision-making.

Menlo Ventures Partner Croom Beatty said Numeric has vast potential to raise its game. “Its moat is a lot deeper than a lot of areas we were looking at,” he said. “It marries complex workflow with complex data in a market that has not been well served by tech companies.”

Using the new funding, Numeric will look to expand its product offerings, and explore the opportunities in adjacent markets, such as financial planning and analysis.

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