Startup Beaker

Numos: Transparent AI for Finance Teams Parijat Sarkar (ex-Zenefits SVP) + Mitul Tiwari (ex-LinkedIn/ServiceNow PhD) just raised $4.25M seed from General Catalyst. The play: Most AI tools hide how they work. Numos shows its reasoning—audit trails, variance analysis, reconciliations—all transparent. Traction first: - Shipped with Udemy, Dandy before fundraising - 80% faster FP&A cycles - 50% faster financial close Founder lesson: Deep domain expertise + measurable outcomes + enterprise validation = investor conviction. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260402784539/en/Numos-Raises-Seed-from-General-Catalyst-to-Build-AI-Finance-Platform-CFOs-Can-Trust Brewed by Startup Beaker. #Fintech#Founders

Two Brothers, 20 & 24, Raise $4.1M to Automate Audits Denki just closed seed funding led by Base10 & Shine Capital. Public companies spend $290B+ annually on compliance audits—mostly manual work in Excel. Denki replaces that with AI-driven workflows that run like code. Already selling to pre-IPO and public companies. How they got here: - David: built financial data pipelines at Macro Hive - Felipe: PhD in explainable AI at UCL - Both spotted audit as technically rich, high-stakes problem with zero modernization - Rejected $135K pre-seed to find the right problem first Key insight: solve problems you've already touched. They didn't invent auditing—they applied what they knew. Brewed by Startup Beaker. #Fintech#AI

Sapiom raised $15M seed to build payment infrastructure for AI agents. Ex-Shopify payments director Ilan Zerbib spotted the gap: AI agents can't autonomously buy services like Twilio SMS or AWS compute. Every API call requires authentication and micro-payments that break agent workflows. • $15M seed led by Accel • Backers include Okta Ventures, Anthropic, Coinbase Ventures • Targets B2B before consumer AI agent payments • Handles authentication + billing for vibe-coding platforms Founder steps: • Leveraged 5 years at Shopify payments engineering • Identified agent payment bottleneck before market matured • Built enterprise-first approach (not consumer) • Secured strategic investors across AI/fintech ecosystem Takeaway: AI agent infrastructure needs financial rails, not just better models. https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/05/sapiom-raises-15m-to-help-ai-agents-buy-their-own-tech-tools/ Brewed by Startup Beaker. #fintech#AI

Paperspace founders raise $15M for AI that replaces financial advisors ATG emerged from stealth to build autonomous AI financial advisors that deliver private-bank-level guidance without traditional fees. • $15M pre-seed led by YC Alumni Fund + Garry Tan • Zero advisory fees vs 1-2% industry standard • 15-person team from Meta, Spotify, AmEx • iOS launch Q1 2026 How it happened: • Sold Paperspace to DigitalOcean for $111M in 2023 • Interviewed advisors post-exit, found massive inconsistencies • Built AI system that automates advisory layer, not just rebalancing • Recruited top talent and secured YC network backing Why it matters: Traditional 1-2% annual fees quietly consume massive retirement savings over decades. ATG bets software can deliver better advice at scale. https://techstartups.com/2026/01/07/paperspace-founders-ai-startup-atg-emerges-from-stealth-with-15m-to-bring-autonomous-ai-financial-advisors-to-everyone/ #startups#fintech