InScope, a San Francisco-based startup, raised $14.5 million in funding to tackle the tough job of preparing financial reporting. The company uses AI to cut down manual work in creating statements that companies and accounting firms need for regulators and investors. Founders Mary Antony and Kelsey Gootnick, both accountants with past roles at Flexport, Miro, Hopin, and Thrive Global, started the firm in 2023 after years of dealing with the same old problems.
Key Takeaways
- InScope raised $14.5 million in Series A funding led by Norwest Venture Partners.
- The AI platform automates tasks like formatting, math checks, and disclosures in financial statements.
- Customers include top accounting firms like CohnReznick; usage grew five times in the last year.
- Founders met at Flexport and built the tool from their own frustrations with spreadsheets and Word docs.
Background
Financial reporting sits at the heart of how businesses show their health to the world. Companies file statements like 10-Ks and 10-Qs with the SEC. These docs detail income, assets, and cash flows. But the process to build them? It's a slog. Accountants spend hours – sometimes days – juggling spreadsheets. They copy numbers from Excel to Word. They format tables by hand. They email drafts back and forth. Errors sneak in. Deadlines loom.
Mary Antony and Kelsey Gootnick know this grind firsthand. They met seven years back at Flexport, a logistics firm. Gootnick was controller there. Antony assisted as assistant controller. Antony later jumped to Miro, the online whiteboard tool. Gootnick moved to Hopin for events, then Thrive Global for wellness. But no matter the job, the reporting headaches followed.
"The way financial statements come together, it’s just patched together in a lot of spreadsheets, moved into a bunch of Word documents, emailed back and forth between people," Antony said.
That shared pain led them to team up. In 2023, they launched InScope. The goal? Make the process faster and less error-prone with AI. Legacy tools like Workiva and Donnelley Financial Solutions help some. But Antony and Gootnick found gaps. Manual steps still ate up time. They wanted something better.
And it worked. Over the past year, InScope's customer list exploded – up five times. Big names signed on. CohnReznick, a top-15 U.S. accounting firm, uses it now. Others followed. The tool fits right into their workflows. No big overhauls needed.
Key Details
InScope doesn't spit out full income statements or balance sheets from scratch yet. That's the long-term dream. For now, it handles the grunt work. Think verifying math. Ensuring dollar signs line up. Commas in the right spots. Antony says just fixing formatting can save up to 20% of an accountant's time.
How the Platform Works
Upload your data. The AI kicks in. Auto-Roll Forward pulls last year's numbers, footnotes, and disclosures. No more copy-paste mess. Disclosure Assistant scans your doc. It suggests what's needed based on your company and peers. Smart Formatting turns pasted tables into SEC-ready ones. One click. Done.
Users rave about it. Results show drafts come 60% faster. Footing checks spot math errors. Inconsistency flags pop up. It's like extra eyes on the work.
"Our audit team at PwC told me that they would benefit if all of their clients used a solution like Inscope. Not only has InScope saved us significant preparation and review time, but even our auditors have recognized that we’re now producing our financial statements in a much more systematic and efficient way." – Ami Modi, Director of Accounting
The funding round closed recently. Norwest led with $14.5 million in Series A cash. Storm Ventures joined. Better Tomorrow Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners added more. They backed InScope early. Now they're doubling down.
Sean Jacobsohn from Norwest sees the edge. Accountants are picky. They hate risk. Few founders get their world. Antony and Gootnick do. They've lived it.
"It’s a very complex space, and you need to be able to have been in the shoes of the buyer before," Jacobsohn said.
InScope grew fast without the new cash. Customers stuck around. Some switched from old tools. Transition was smooth. Support teams helped. AI reviews built trust. One user cut days of formatting to minutes.
But challenges remain. Accountants move slow on AI. Full automation? That'll take time. Regulators demand accuracy. GAAP rules bind everything. InScope stays compliant. It builds for audits from day one.
What This Means
This funding lets InScope hire more. They'll build out features. Automated cash flow statements top the list. That's new ground. Most tools skip it. InScope wants to lead.
For accounting firms, it's a game-changer. Big players like CohnReznick save hours. Smaller ones too. Prep time drops. Reviews speed up. Errors fall. Clients get statements quicker.
Companies benefit. Finance teams focus on analysis, not drudgery. Public firms hit SEC deadlines easier. Privates prep for funding rounds. Everyone wins.
The broader tech scene notices. AI creeps into finance. Tools like Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro set benchmarks. Accenture links AI use to promotions. InScope fits right in. It targets a niche ripe for change.
Startups watch close. Founders from ops backgrounds build ops tools. Accountants do accounting fixes. Expect copycats. But InScope's head start matters. Real-user proof helps.
Investors bet big. Norwest sees time savings firsthand from clients. Others pile in. The space heats up. Legacy players like Workiva feel pressure. They'll adapt or lag.
Accountants adapt too. Some resist. Others embrace. Tools like this shift jobs. Less tedium. More strategy. The field evolves.
InScope pushes boundaries. From spreadsheets to AI drafts. It's early days. But momentum builds. Finance reporting won't look the same soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does InScope do?
InScope is an AI platform that automates parts of financial statement prep, like formatting tables, checking math, and suggesting disclosures. It speeds up drafts and cuts errors.
Who founded InScope?
Mary Antony and Kelsey Gootnick started it. They met at Flexport and have experience at Miro, Hopin, and Thrive Global.
How much did InScope raise and from whom?
The company got $14.5 million in Series A funding. Norwest led, with Storm Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Lightspeed joining.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does InScope do?
InScope is an AI platform that automates parts of financial statement prep, like formatting tables, checking math, and suggesting disclosures. It speeds up drafts and cuts errors.
Who founded InScope?
Mary Antony and Kelsey Gootnick started it. They met at Flexport and have experience at Miro, Hopin, and Thrive Global.
How much did InScope raise and from whom?
The company got $14.5 million in Series A funding. Norwest led, with Storm Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Lightspeed joining.
