Scottsdale-based bookkeeping automation startup Uplinq says it has raised $5.6 million in seed funding that will be used to enhance its technology and get it to more businesses as the company looks to enter a new phase of growth.
The funding round was led by venture capital fund AZ-VC, which announced the close of its first fund in October with $110 million to invest primarily in emerging Arizona tech companies. Also joining in were Live Oak Ventures, Merus Capital and members of the Kuwaiti royal family.
The funding comes in addition to a previously unannounced funding raise of $1.6 million from the Kuwaiti royal family and angel investors in metro Phoenix.
Uplinq offers its fintech service to small- and medium-sized businesses, or SMBs, on a monthly subscription basis. Its machine-learning and artificial intelligence technologies take transaction and other financial data for clients, integrating with financial institutions, payroll software and other resources to give weekly financial reports and real-time analyses that business owners can use in their decision-making.
The company’s CEO said it relieves business owners of much of the weight of financial management so they can focus on what got them started in the first place.
“SMBs start a business because they have an interest, expertise, or opportunity in a certain area or industry — not bookkeeping. They are often forced to choose from poor options such as outsourcing to firms with inconsistent service, hiring an internal finance manager, or doing it themselves,” said Uplinq CEO Alex Glenn. “That’s where Uplinq comes in. We offer businesses a better way to get professional help through our proprietary technology, that not only makes bookkeeping worry-free for the business owner, but also provides them with powerful data automation and machine learning to better understand their finances and how their business can improve.”
Uplinq officials: Reimagining the bookkeeping industry
Glenn said the company is working in a $15 billion industry that is underserved, so the funding round will help Uplinq expand its reach. The company plans to add new services in 2023, and will use the new funding to scale marketing, sales and customer deliveries.
In the near term, Uplinq is hiring for five new positions in sales, technology and operations. They will join the company’s team of 25 employees, 15 of whom are in Arizona.
AZ-VC Principal Benjamin Brockwell said Uplinq’s team stood out as decidedly capable of achieving its mission.
“We have met with dozens of top-notch technology companies within Arizona and beyond, and what stands out about the Uplinq team is their infectious energy and passion for reimagining the bookkeeping industry,” Brockwell said in a statement. “It is extremely rare to feel impacted to the point where you meet a company and wake up the next morning with a pronounced sense of conviction about a team's ability to execute their vision, but that is Uplinq.”
Live Oak Ventures, which also participated in the latest round of funding, is the venture arm of North Carolina-based Live Oak Bank, a major SBA lender. Stephanie Mann, Live Oak Bank’s executive vice president of corporate development and strategy, said Uplinq is uniquely poised for success in an untapped realm in which machine learning and artificial intelligence are poised with financial analysis for SMB data.
“Businesses are only as strong as their accounting systems, and the list of organizations that will benefit from Uplinq’s financial data and automation technology is growing steadily each day,” Mann said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing the new ways Uplinq will help our network and new businesses thrive now and in the future.”
