Bellevue-based cryptocurrency tax software company ZenLedger isn't planning to open an office, even after raising a $15 million Series B round in May.
Co-founder and CEO Pat Larsen said the company's remote work policy has given ZenLedger a boost in hiring. Although the company doesn't plan to add permanent office space, he added, ZenLedger will have regular team meetings and use coworking space when necessary.
"I'm very cognizant of the fact that if you're a remote company and then you get an office, you immediately introduce headquarters office politics, which I really don't want to introduce," Larsen said. "There's actually nowhere to hide in Slack. There's places to hide if there's a water cooler and meetings and stuff like that. Your productivity is very hard to hide in a remote company."
According to Larsen, ZenLedger currently has about 50 employees, up from 15 about nine months ago. He added the company doesn't have a specific target for hiring over the next year but will rather let its revenue guide those decisions.
ZenLedger, founded in 2017, takes cryptocurrency transactions and generates tax forms, and it identifies chances to save money on taxes. The aim, Larsen said, is for investors and accountants to have all their information in one place. The IRS and TurboTax both use ZenLedger.
In addition to ZenLedger's funding round in May, the company raised a $6 million Series A round in August. Larsen said the company makes money through subscription fees to use the software, and ZenLedger has more than 50,000 users.
The Seattle area is becoming more of a hot spot for cryptocurrency taxes, as TaxBit opened an office in South Lake Union in July and now claims dual headquarters in Seattle and Salt Lake City. TaxBit makes crypto tax software for enterprises, consumers and government bodies, and the company raised $130 million in August, pushing its value to $1.33 billion.
Larsen said although TaxBit is something of a competitor, that company focuses more on enterprise. And besides, he added, product quality and regulations are bigger factors than competition in ZenLedger's future success.
As for crypto's volatility, Larsen said the company has survived crashes in the past.
"Since it's crypto, 50% down over three or four months is not a huge crash," he said. "I've been in crypto since 2017, so I'm jaded about that. We survived the 2018-2019 crypto winter, which was like a 95% asset down."
