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Summary
- Pilot has emerged as the newest unicorn after crossing the threshold valuation of US$1 bn.
- The world's richest man, Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, has invested over $100 million along with other partners during the extended series C funding round.
- Pilot has proved to be succeeding in solving one of the biggest challenges faced by small businesses to manage their back-office tasks.
Pilot, the accounting start-up, has raised US$100 million in the extended Series C funding at a valuation of US$1.2 billion from Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock Capital. The start-up targets one of the biggest challenges faced by small businesses to manage their back-office tasks.
In the latest funding rounds, San Francisco based has raised over US$100 million at double the previous valuations. The round was led by Jeff Bezos' firm Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock Capital. The Bezos' firm venture capital firm was joined by Sequoia and Index Ventures.
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Source: © Werezu | Megapixl.com
Latest Unicorn Unveiled
Bezos Expedition is the personal investment company of the world's richest man. Whale Rock Capital, the partner of the round, is a hedge fund with investments of over US$10 billion under its kitty.
The latest funding provides Pilot with enough capital infusion for growth at a very attractive valuation along with the support of renowned investors. The new investors' validation further bolsters the confidence in the company to transform the way some business deal with taxation and back-office tasks.
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Pilot was founded by serial entrepreneurs Jeff Arnold, Waseem Daher and Jessica McKellar and led the business idea to a successful, marketable product. The latest funding round adds Pilot to the list of unicorns with a valuation of US$1.2 billion. In the past, Pilot has been backed by Stripe and its founders, John and Patrick Collison and the CEO of software giant VMware Diane Greene.
Pilot’s Background and Offerings
In Pilot's case, it is perceived that the sharks have been tracking and entering into the company to create the next major industry players. Pilot focuses on assisting small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and is led by CEO Waseem Daher. Daher is a three-time entrepreneur who holds a degree in computer science from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Oracle and Dropbox acquired his previous ventures.
Source: © Johnkwan | Megapixl.com
Pilot envisions to provide an end to end back-office services to the small and mid-sized companies. The company offers bookkeeping, tax and R&D credit and CFO services at the moment to its customers. Just last year, the company had recorded over US$3 billion in bookkeeping transactions for its customers. The client list includes pre-revenue start-ups to companies with more than US$30 million in revenue.
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The CFO services allow the company to combine the software and accounting offering to its clients without hiring full-fledged finance or accounting firm. Further, the offering enables the customers to generate monthly reports for all bookkeeping items and prepare the budget for future expenditures.
