Pilot combines proprietary software with human accountants to deliver bookkeeping, monthly variance analysis, tax credits assistance and outsourced CFO services to startups and SMBs. The company says it completed more than $3 billion in bookkeeping transactions last year and serves more than 1,000 customers ranging from pre-revenue startups to companies with over $30 million in revenue. Pilot emphasizes a white-glove customer experience—more than 80% of its business is driven by referrals and organic interest. It has formed co-marketing partnerships with companies including American Express, Bill.com, Brex, Carta, Gusto, Rippling, Stripe, SVB and Techstars. The founding team (Waseem Daher, Jeff Arnold and Jessica McKellar) are serial founders with prior exits (Ksplice and Zulip). Pilot aspires to be the “AWS of SMB backoffice,” aiming to scale back-office functions so customers can focus on growth. Pilot provides bookkeeping and expanded back-office finance services by pairing custom software with dedicated, full-time U.S.-based finance experts who integrate with customers' billing, banking, expense and payroll systems. The company offers CFO Services, monthly variance analysis, and assistance identifying small-business tax credits, aiming to bring enterprise finance capabilities to SMBs. Pilot says it booked more than $3 billion in bookkeeping transactions in 2020 and serves over 1,000 customers ranging from pre-revenue startups to companies generating more than $30M in annual revenue. The founding team of Waseem Daher, Jeff Arnold, and Jessica McKellar launched Pilot in 2017 to solve the founders' own back-office challenges. Pilot plans to use the new funding to expand the breadth of its back-office services and accelerate its mission to modernize SMB finance operations. The company has raised about $120 million to date and lists investors including Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Stripe, and a group of individual entrepreneur investors. Pilot provides tech‑enabled bookkeeping that integrates with existing financial products (for example, QuickBooks) to streamline accounting for startups and small businesses. The company combines software and human‑driven bookkeeping to automate mechanical, repetitive accounting tasks. Pilot handles bookkeeping for more than $100 million per month in customer financial transactions and plans to use new capital to accelerate customer adoption. The company plans to launch a tax‑prep offering to make tax preparation “easy and seamless” as part of a broader effort to run customers’ entire back offices. Pilot was founded by Waseem Daher, Jeff Arnold and Jessica McKellar and launched in 2017. It is based in San Francisco and the founders are third‑time entrepreneurs with prior exits (Ksplice sold to Oracle; Zulip exited to Dropbox). Pilot.com offers a QuickBooks Online-based software platform combined with a full-service bookkeeping offering that handles customers’ books from start to finish. Each customer is paired with a dedicated account manager based out of the company’s San Francisco office. The company announced general availability of its bookkeeping service and reports more than 150 business customers, including small businesses and international corporations with complex accounting needs. Pilot raised a $15M Series A to accelerate adoption of its bookkeeping service. The company has $18.3M in total funding to date and will use the new capital to expand customer acquisition and service reach. Its core product is the integration of QuickBooks Online software with hands-on bookkeeping support.

Total raised

$215M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Mar 2021