Xero provides online accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses and accountants. The company raised $110.8 million to grow its North American and U.S. operations. Xero says it has more than 400,000 small-business customers on its platform. The new capital accompanies senior hires intended to boost U.S. growth, including Russell Fujioka as U.S. president (based in San Francisco) and former Salesforce CFO Graham Smith joining the board as a non-executive director. Xero faces competition in the U.S. from incumbents like Intuit and smaller rivals such as FreshBooks. Prior to this round, Xero had raised over $240 million from investors, most recently a $150 million round in October 2013 led by Valar Ventures and Matrix Partners. Xero provides cloud-based, SaaS accounting software for small and medium businesses and their accountants, marketed with a focus on a slick user interface (“beautiful cloud accounting”). Its platform includes integrations with payment services like PayPal, the ability to add CRM apps, online invoicing, and smartphone access. The company says it will use new funding to continue building its business globally and to drive aggressive expansion into markets such as the U.S. (which it cites as 29 million potential customers). Xero is pursuing a goal of reaching 1 million paying customers; as of September 30 it had 211,300 paying customers and annualised committed monthly revenues of NZ$70.6 million (US$58.7 million). Xero is not yet profitable, reporting a net loss of US$12 million in the last fiscal year, and held US$45.8 million in cash prior to this raise. The business has shown rapid growth (user base up 89% year‑on‑year; growth outside NZ/AU/UK 141%) and currently has 85,500 users in New Zealand. Xero provides online accounting software aimed at small businesses, emphasizing an easy-to-use interface and design. The company says it has doubled both revenue and its customer base since entering the U.S. market last year. Xero has integrated with ADP’s online payroll platform and acquired practice management suite WorkflowMax. The product positions itself as a challenger to incumbents such as Intuit’s QuickBooks, with competitors including Freshbooks and Kashoo. The company highlights UI and ease-of-use as core differentiators. Recent funding activity indicates continued investor support for growth and U.S. expansion. Xero provides cloud-based online accounting services for small businesses. Its product integrates automatic bank feeds via a partnership with Yodlee, reporting 5,000 feeds in the U.S. The company reports 60,000 paying customers and 240,000 users. Xero is pursuing U.S. expansion, having doubled its U.S. team from three employees to six and hiring Jamie Sutherland as president of U.S. operations. Investors praise its intuitive, cloud-based design as a simpler alternative to desktop accounting software. The company raised new funding to support that expansion. Xero provides online accounting software for small businesses and is headquartered in Wellington. The company has been developing opportunities in the United States since March 2009, when it appointed Andy Lark to its US Advisory Board. In January 2010 Xero entered an arrangement with Yodlee to provide automated daily bank account feeds into its online accounting solution. Xero’s leadership says the company plans to expand in the US and compete with Intuit’s QuickBooks in the small-business market. The company is pursuing strategic partnerships and advisory appointments to support that expansion. No revenue or user metrics are disclosed in the article.

Total raised

$329M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2015