AI Startup Materia Raises $6.3M to Revolutionize Public Accounting

Materia, a new AI platform designed specifically for public accounting firms, has emerged from stealth mode with a substantial $6.3 million in funding. The startup, which aims to streamline tedious accounting tasks using artificial intelligence, announced its launch Thursday. The funding round was led by Spark Capital, with additional investments from Haystack Ventures, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Exponential Founders Capital, and the Allen Institute for AI. Founded by Kevin Merlini, CEO and Lucas Adams, CTO, both former Facebook employees, Materia was born out of Merlini's firsthand experience with the mundane aspects of accounting during his time at KPMG. The idea was incubated at the Allen Institute for AI in late 2022, predating the launch of ChatGPT. The startup enters the mark