The finance sector offers fertile ground for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as it constantly looks for new, and innovative ways to reduce costs, and increase efficiency, and this is where AI comes in handy.
The broader sector has started to understand that AI is a tool that will make their jobs easier by helping them set targets for outcomes, and benefits, define areas of focus, and develop a more efficient work structure.
The goal is not to eliminate the human workforce, but to integrate employees with AI, and give them the necessary training and tools that will increase their efficiency, and make their jobs easier.
In this article, we explore the up-and-coming platforms and software that looks to offer innovative and creative solutions, tailored to clients’ needs, and different industries.
1) HighRadius launches LiveCube
HighRadius, the startup working on automating the office of the CFO, launched LiveCube earlier this year. This no-code platform is aimed at helping CFOs and senior finance executives to develop their applications as extensions.
The basic idea is to reduce the dependency on IT departments and Admins. LiveCube has an Excel-like interface that allows users to retrieve raw data, make calculations, upload results, and more. The platform is specifically targeting A/R, Treasury, and Accounting end users to allow them to build their applications as extensions.
2) DataRobot CEO predicts a prosperous future for AI
DataRobots is a startup that focuses on building customer needs-focused AI tools. Using a combination of generative and predictive AI, DataRobots creates tools that are specialized for customer needs.
The startup is especially focused on retail business and hospital service, but in the future, they look towards creating AI tools that will be able to cater to the needs of every industry. Debanjan Saha, previous VP and GM of data analytics at Google Cloud, and Amazon Web services, became the CEO of DataRobot in 2022.
3) Datarails announces Full Rollout of FP&A Genius
Datarails, the AI-powered financial planning and analysis platform, has launched the world’s first GenAI in the field of FP&A called “Genius.” The tool allows insight into budgets, forecasts, variance, and spending.
Running on Datarails’ FinanceOS, it taps into all the financial data provided by the company and offers answers and suggestions. Three main features of the new platform are Fast Finance Requests, Executive Self-Service, and AI storytelling assistant.
These features are aimed at providing assistance and valuable insight into the finance sector of a company.
4) Stripe uses AI to ease the burden of tax procedures
Stripe recognized the growing complexity of tax regulations for companies working in the U.S., and especially for those who are expanding their business on an international stage, as it adds additional complications when it comes to adhering to the tax laws of different countries.
As a result, the fintech startup just launched Stripe Tax, with the aim of leveraging AI to help CFOs to make tax calculations and payments easier. Platforms on Stripe Connect can now offer their customers no-code tax compliance with Stripe Tax.
“We built Stripe Tax because it’s a logical extension of payment processing, and now we’ve built Tax for platforms so platforms can offer it to their customers and help them with all aspects of the transaction lifecycle,” said Michael Carney, product lead for Stripe Tax.
5) Paro raises an additional $25M in the third round of investing
Paro, a startup with the aim to connect businesses with a network of freelancing talent, announced it managed to raise an additional $25M which brings them to a total of $67M in investments. Madrona Venture Group, Revolution Ventures, and Sierra Ventures all invested in the fintech startup.
Paro’s platform uses an AI algorithm that connects businesses of various sizes, and types with accountants that will suit their needs. Essentially, it operates as Upwork of Fiverr, but exclusively for accounting and financial work. This will help CFOs cut their time in search for new fintech talent.
6) Numarics adds €10.2M in investment
Numarics, the Swiss fintech startup that builds business-oriented OS, is using AI to combine accounting, invoicing, and document management into one platform. The idea is to completely eliminate the need for outside experts, which will additionally save SMEs money, and make the job of CFOs easier.
With its most recent investment round, in which they added €10.2M in new funding, the total amount raised from investors now sits at €19.7M. UBS Next, FiveT Fintech, Wingman Ventures, and Seed X are the main investors.
7) Growfin’s AI looks to expand further to U.S. and Asia
Growfin is a fintech startup that aims to make invoice payment and cash collection much easier through their SaaS which will increase the efficiency of finance departments of various businesses.
Raising an additional $7M in investments by Singapore’s SWC Global, 3one4 Capital, and angel investors brought Growfins total investment to $9M. They aim to use this capital to further expand their business into the US and Asia.
Using AI, Growfin developed financial CRM that automates finance accounts receivable workflows but also provides the right collaboration capabilities and real-time visibility to sales
8) JustPaid launches new AI tools
After raising $3.5M in a seed investment round, JustPaid is releasing a set of financial tools powered by AI with the aim to democratize and simplify the professional lives of company CFOs.
Their potential is recognized by investors such as Rebel Fund, Leah Culver, Arash Ferdowsi, Jack Abraham, Orange Collective, Decacorn Capital, Lab Capital Advisors, and Y Combinator.
By using AI JustPaid looks to enable small business operators to receive and track payments, understand their finances with analytics, and identify opportunities.
9) Ramp acquires AI startup Cohere.io
Ramp, the finance automation platform has acquired an AI startup Cohere.io in a bid to further develop the automatization of workflows and improve customer experiences through GenAI.
Cohere has applied its AI tools to industries such as FinTech and autonomous vehicles. This acquisition comes after Ramp secured $750M in financing its growth of the finance automation platform. The aim is to employ AI to enable businesses to unlock information from data they already possess that will prove crucial in increasing their revenue.
Basically, this acquisition will allow finance executives to do more with less and position the CFO as a strategic partner and adviser to the management team.
10) Rho reveals new AI-Powered AP Automation for CFOs
The new AP Automation by Rho seeks to help finance teams process thousands of payables in seconds, better manage cash flows and compliance, and centralize their end-to-end financial operations.
Rho will automate companies’ AP through AI-powered invoice & bill processing, while its two-way accounting sync ensures vendor information remains consistent between Rho and the client’s ERP at all times. CFOs can now stay in control of day-to-day operations as some of the areas of the work that they had to do manually in the past, can now be done via automation.
One of Rho’s clients is Runway, which applies AI company’s building tools for storytellers. Runway recently announced a $141 million extension of its Series C round.
Conclusion
AI investments in fintech are reshaping the CFO’s office, introducing transformative changes. Innovations, like those briefly mentioned in this article, collectively highlight how AI investments are revolutionizing fintech, enabling CFOs to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and elevate customer experiences.
