Modus, an AI-native audit technology platform and holding company, has raised $85 million to invest in and partner with audit-first accounting firms.
"Audits serve as the cornerstone for trust in our capital markets, yet the underlying tools and workflows have not meaningfully changed in decades," said Modus co-founder and CEO Arush Jain, in a statement. "This funding allows us to invest aggressively in AI-enabled audit tooling while partnering with exceptional firms that want to lead the profession forward, without sacrificing quality or culture."
The Seed and Series A funding was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Comma Capital and Garry Tan. In addition to supporting Modus' strategy around audit firms, the money will also be used to accelerate the company's technology development.
Launched last June by Jain, Pranav Pillai, and Vinay Kasat, Modus is building tools to help firms perform complex audits, enabling them to automate manual procedures, enhance risk assessment, and focus more time on judgment-driven work.
One of the goals of its investment in audit firms is to tap their expertise to help develop better auditing tools. The company has already invested in one Top 200 accounting firm, and has deployed seven AI workflows in it, according to Lightspeed.
"Public accounting has been historically underserved by technology. Modus intends to drive the industry forward with thoughtful product philosophy and a partnership-first approach that earns the trust of each firm they invest in," said Lightspeed Isaac Kim and Amish Desai, in a statement.
"The Modus team has driven highly effective automation in key audit workflows and meaningfully increased efficiencies for firms performing audits, and we are excited to partner with them in building the world's first AI-native audit technology for accounting firms," added partner Justin Overdorff.
