In today's on-demand world, where you can easily access a network of freelancers willing to provide you a ride, grocery delivery or takeout, a Chicago startup is bringing that same level of efficiency to help companies with their finances.
Chicago startup Paro is an on-demand startup that connects businesses with finance professionals, like accountants and tax specialists. Its network of freelancers can help companies with bookkeeping, financial analysis, tax help and more—even offering businesses access to temporary CFOs.
The startup, founded in 2015, raised $5 million last year in a round led by Steve Case’s firm Revolution Ventures. Its tech solution has taken off with small and medium-sized businesses, and it's worked with more than 1,000 companies from Chicago startups like BenchPrep and Cameo to larger brands like Startup Weekend.
Now at more than 50 employees, Paro expects to grow to more than 100 by the end of 2019, said Alexa Lemmo, Paro's business development and partnerships manager. The startup is currently out raising its Series B round.
"We want to be the go-to household name for anything on-demand financial services related," Lemmo said.
The startup also brought on two big hires this year, naming Nick Galluch, the former director of digital marketing at Duo Security (which was acquired by Cisco for more than $2 billion) as its VP of marketing. It also named Randi Jakubowitz, who previously worked at Havas Media and Grubhub, as its Head of People.
Paro says its finance pros are highly vetted, accepting less than 2% of the finance freelancers that apply to be on its platform.
"We think of ourselves as the highest quality marketplace for [financial] freelancers," Lemmo said.
