Tax platform April launched its operations Tuesday after raising $10 million in a seed round from investors to support its personalized tax engine that uses natural language processing and human-assisted AI, along with partnerships with financial institutions, to streamline the tax preparation process and more closely align it with financial wellness.
April was co-founded by former Deloitte fintech strategist Ben Borodach, who led corporate strategy for venture group Team8, and Daniel Marcous, former acting CTO of navigation startup Waze (which sold to Google for $1 billion in 2013), who later served as lead data scientist at Google in Israel.
The funding round was led by Team8 and included participation from NYCA Partners, Bolt by QED, Treasury, Euclidean Capital, iAngels, and tech founders Jeff Cruttenden of Acorns, Eli Broverman of Betterment, Shari Wininger of Lemonade, and Lowell Putnam of Quovo.
Jody Padar, most recently vice president of partner development and strategy at Botkeeper and branded as the “Radical CPA,” will serve as head of tax strategy and evangelism at the startup.
April partners directly with banks and financial institutions to eliminate the barriers between tax and financial planning and make tax preparation more affordable, with the platform rolling out in the first half of 2022 to select customers of fintech partners in time for this filing season.
“The tax prep and filing process isn’t working for most Americans,” said co-founder Borodach in a statement. “Tax is a crucial asset or liability on the personal balance sheet of the American family that lacks visibility throughout the year. The reality for most Americans is that they will need to spend significant time and money just to understand their tax obligation. The time has come for a real-time, continuous and integrated tax experience that helps the taxpayer make more informed financial decisions, while saving them time and money.”
April has partnered with financial technology company Propel to reach families with limited income. “Tax filing is stressful and complicated, especially for families with limited income,” said Propel founder and CEO Jimmy Chen in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with April to offer these families a simple solution to access benefits such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which are a lifeline for financially vulnerable households.”
April uses modern APIs to give developers greater control and transparency into developing new solutions for the platform.
“It’s time to bring taxes into the digital age. I’m excited to lead the charge and help the next generation of consumers and accounting professionals have a better relationship with tax filings,” said Padar, head of tax strategy and evangelism. “The fact that April is using AI and natural language processing to disrupt and transform the tax experience is a much-needed game changer.”
