AI-for-accounting startup Basis hits $1.15B valuation

AI-for-accounting startup Basis has surged to unicorn status with a new funding round as advances in artificial intelligence rattle the financial services markets.

Basis raised $100 million from investors at a $1.15 billion valuation, the company plans to announce Tuesday. Venture capital firm Accel led the round, joined by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, as well as existing backers including Khosla Ventures.

Founded in 2023, Basis provides AI agent technology to accounting firms to help them complete tasks like preparing financial statements, filing tax returns and tracking expenses.

Investors are taking seriously the idea that AI could upend financial services. Earlier this month, wealth management stocks sank after the startup Altruist Corp. released AI agents for tax planning. Days prior, shares of financial data providers fell when Anthropic dropped a new model that the company said could perform complex financial research.

Basis isn't the only startup hoping to shake up the world of accounting. General Catalyst put $65 million behind Accrual, a startup making AI software for accounting, earlier this month. Accounting is one of the key industries targeted by AI-focused Thrive Holdings. And in January, French startup Pennylane raised €175 million ($204 million) in a funding round led by growth equity investor TCV.

Demand for accountants is expected to increase over the next several years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, fewer students are becoming accountants, and more accountants are retiring or leaving the profession.

Basis aims to supplement the shortage of accountants in the U.S. and elevate the kinds of work that human accountants are able to do, said CEO Matt Harpe. If rote tax returns and financial statements are automated, accountants can focus on higher-level work, helping clients make key decisions on tax strategies and capital allocations.

Co-founder Mitchell Troyanovsky said the startup's role is similar to that of AI coding startups like Cursor and Lovable. "Coding agents can write a lot of code now," he said. "That doesn't mean we're hiring fewer engineers — we're actually hiring more engineers."

Basis focuses on building so-called long-horizon agents, which can work on complex accounting tasks for hours or even days. The company works with OpenAI, using the AI giant's models to take on increasingly complicated workflows, Troyanovsky said.

Basis said it recently built the first-ever AI agent that can autonomously complete a partnership tax return, a  complicated filing that requires accountants to produce individualized tax documents for every partner in a business, track custom profit-sharing arrangements, and often file separately in multiple states. 

The startup has raised $138 million to date and said its platform is used by about 30% of the top 25 accounting firms and 20% of the top 150 firms. With the fresh funding, Basis plans to expand its customer base while going deeper on tax and audit capabilities. The startup is also aiming to grow its machine learning and engineering teams, Harpe said.