Finance departments face a rather tough time dealing with manual, time-consuming tasks, such as recording business transactions, reconciling, investigating errors, and so forth. All these inefficient things finally translate into increased costs and poor employee morale. Recognizing AI’s transformative potential, Irish AI startup Numra, previously Autonifai, secured €1.5 million in funding. Led by Elkstone and notable angel investors, this investment will introduce Numra’s AI finance assistant, ‘Mary’, to the market, accelerate US customer acquisition, and boost product development.

Founded in 2023 by David Kearney and Conor Digan, Numra aims to revolutionize finance operations. Kearney, a Chartered Accountant from PwC, co-founded Peblo, which was acquired by Wayflyer in 2022. Digan, with a background in actuarial science and a Masters in Data Science, has built machine learning products for startups in the US and Germany.

Numra’s AI assistant Mary acts like a real-life team member, handling repetitive tasks such as invoice processing, reconciliations, and collections. Targeting companies with large in-house finance teams, Mary enhances productivity by 30–50% and can manage complex tasks like vendor queries and detailed cost allocations. Users interact with Mary via email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or other chat software, and manage her through the Numra platform. Mary’s performance improves over time with user feedback and past transactions.

Comments from the movers and shakers in this funding round:

“With the advent of LLMs, what was once unimaginable is now possible. AI’s capability to ingest and process vast amounts of unstructured data enables us to redefine the boundaries of productivity in the finance department. By taking on tasks that were previously too complex to automate, Mary elevates the role of finance teams and empowers them to engage in higher-value activities that require strategic thinking and creativity.”

— David Kearney, co-founder and CEO at Numra

“Numra is the perfect example of how Irish innovators are leveraging artificial intelligence to address the current and future challenges in sectors such as finance. At Elkstone, we are proud to be a part of Numra’s journey from such an early stage, and to support them with the launch of their AI power accounts assistant.”

 — Niall McEvoy, Venture Partner at Elkstone

Featured image: Credit: Numra