Accounting Startup Klarity Books $70M Series B

It’s weird to say, but accounting is hot — at least in the startup world.

Klarity became the latest accounting-related startup to raise big in the sector. The San Francisco-based company raised a $70 million Series B led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross and included participation from Scale Venture Partners, Tola Capital, Picus Capital, Invus Capital and Y Combinator — per a report in The Information.

No valuation was released.

Not surprisingly, there is an AI angle to Klarity. The company uses AI to help process data in contracts and internal records, eliminating the need to do it manually. The new cash will be used to add to its 130-person staff. The company is on pace to triple that number this year, per the report.

Big rounds

Just in the past several months the accounting tech sector — perhaps not the sexiest or most talked about in the startup world — has seen some pretty big fundraises.

Copenhagen-based accounting platform provider Ageras raised an $88 million round led by Investcorp in April.

Before that, accounting workflow automation tools developer FloQast, locked up a $100 million Series E financing led by Iconiq Growth, and audit automation provider DataSnipper raised $100 million led by Index Ventures.

Just as in the case of Klarity, AI plays a role in most of those big rounds as startups are looking to apply the technology to help automate or expedite some of the tedious tasks in accounting.

The funding action is not dissimilar to what is going on in other often overlooked industries, such as the legal sector, where startups using AI continue to rake in big bucks.