Miami-based tax software startup Taxfyle has raised $4.1 million in Series A funding, bringing its total amount of funding to date to $7.3 million. The company is creating a platform to connect licensed accountants and tax preparers with taxpayers.
This round of funding was led by Miami-based venture capital firm Rokk3r Fuel ExO, and included investment by Ocean Azul Partners, also a venture capital firm in Miami.
Taxfyle was founded in 2015, and reports a user base of more than 40,000 taxpayers and 1,300 licensed professionals today. According to the company, on average, taxes filed through the Taxfyle platform are completed within 48 hours at 40 percent less than retail tax shops.
This year, Taxfyle developed a business-to-business product called Worklayer, an enterprise solution that allows large professional services companies to catalogue services and route those services to their workforce on demand — the software uses some artificial intelligence for this process. Worklayer is meant to help CPA firms to scale their workforces as needed and earn additional revenue without the time-intensive task of recruiting, training new staff, and drafting long-term contracts. Taxfyle says a Big Four firm is an early user of Worklayer, as well as some top 100 tax firms in the country.
Taxfyle also offers Taxfyle Outsourcing, targeted at CPA firms, allowing them to assign tax work to 1,300 licensed CPAs and enrolled agents via the Taxfyle platform.
"We've built an amazing product with excellent market fit. Now we want to establish a robust sales force to get that product in the hands of new users, be it individuals or businesses," said Michael Mouriz, co-founder and COO of Taxfyle, in a statement.
Taxfyle’s stated goals for the Series A funds are to expand its platform, ramp up distribution of Worklayer (beginning with the 45,000 CPA firms in the U.S), and recruit additional marketing and sales staff. With the Series A round, Taxfyle also added a few new key members to its board of directors, including Jeff Ransdell, Rokk3r Fuel founder and managing director; Bill Pruitt, managing director of Ocean Azul Partners; and Dick Deas, a former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"We are thrilled to welcome Jeff, Bill and Dick to the Taxfyle board, and welcome Ocean Azul as VC partners. We share the same values and their experiences advising fast-growing companies will help Taxfyle become a fundamental part of the accounting industry," stated Ricky Laviña, co-founder and CEO of Taxfyle. "Our mission is not only to modernize consumer tax prep, but to bring the future of work to professional accounting firms around the world. For tax professionals, Taxfyle and Worklayer offer the chance to set flexible work hours and adjust workload as needed while earning wages comparable to those paid by the leading accounting firms."
