4 days ago
Exclusive: Embedded tax startup April raises $38M
April, an embedded tax platform, has raised $38 million in a Series B round led by QED Investors, founder Ben Borodach tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Embedding tax tools directly into financial apps can improve financial decision-making and boost customer retention.
Zoom in: Nyca Partners and Team8 also participated in the Series B round, bringing the total funding April has raised to date to $78 million.
How it works: Fintech apps and financial institutions use April's APIs to integrate tax filing and planning directly into their platforms, enabling year-round, real-time tax management.
April operates on a SaaS-based model, offering flat-rate pricing to fintech partners, who can choose to mark up services for their end customers.
"Our vision is to embed tax in every financial decision," Borodach says. "Taxes should be happening where you're managing your money. They should be happening in real time, and they should be personalized to you."
Context: New York-based April operates in a market dominated by legacy tax-preparation giants like Intuit, H&R Block, Thomson Reuters, and Wolters Kluwer.
But it recently became the first new company in 15 years to achieve national e-file coverage in all 50 states, Borodach says.
The company has also launched a series of new products over the past year, including pro-assisted and pro-led tax filing, quarterly estimate tools for small business owners, and paycheck withholding optimizers.
As a result, it is seeing increased demand from wealth management platforms, including integrations with digital advisers catering to mass-affluent clients and an upcoming partnership with a trillion-dollar asset manager.
By the numbers: April claims it can reduce the time it takes to prepare and file taxes from the IRS' reported 13‑hour average down to just 22 minutes.
The company processed hundreds of thousands of returns through partnerships with over 50 fintech apps and financial institutions this past tax season.
It has seen its business grow three times year-to-date and more than seven times over the past 12 months, Borodach says.
What's next: The company is preparing to launch advanced tax planning tools around capital gains, retirement planning, and stock transactions.
