US accounting firm CLA has acquired UK tech start-up Engine B, an AI-specialist focusing on services for accountants and tax advisers. This is CLA's first global acquisition and part of a $500 million investment in digital technology and AI. Engine B, founded in 2019, provides generative AI solutions for accountants, auditors, and tax professionals. CLA will integrate Engine B's AI capability into its tech services, and the founders and team will join CLA. The acquisition was finalized on May 1, and the value of the deal was not disclosed. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has sold its stake in Engine B to CLA as part of the deal.
In other news, Irish-Indian company Inspeq AI has raised $1.1 million (approximately INR 9.13 Crore) in a pre-Series-A investment round. The funding round was led by Sure Valley Ventures and included participation from Delta Partners, Plug and Play, and several angel investors. Inspeq AI's LLM Ops platform helps developers optimize Gen-AI app production and development. The company plans to use the investment to expand its product development team and extend its marketing and sales operations in India, Ireland, and the UK. Inspeq AI was founded in 2023 by Apoorva Kumar and Ramanujam Macharla Vijayakumar, both veterans of the tech industry. The company's platform promises to make Gen AI app development up to 4X faster and cut down development costs by up to 70%. Inspeq AI's comprehensive AI Ops platform addresses the entire spectrum of AI development and production phases, optimizing Gen AI deployment and reducing security vulnerabilities and hallucination issues. The company aims to become the global leader in safe and reliable AI.
Dubai-based AI startup qeen.ai has also secured funding. The company raised $2.2 million in Pre-Seed funding led by Wamda Capital, with participation from 10x Founders, Aditum, Dara Holdings, Jabbar Group, Phaze Ventures, and Eureka 460. qeen.ai, founded in 2023 by Dina Alsamhan, Ahmad Khwileh, and Morteza Ibrahimi, provides e-commerce businesses with no-code, native GenAI product discovery solutions. The solutions improve online sales and customer lifetime value by autonomously improving content in real time and multiple languages. The funding will be used to expand operations and business reach.
AccountsIQ, a cloud-based accounting platform, has secured a €60M Series C investment from Axiom Equity. The investment will be used to develop the AccountsIQ product and enhance its AI capability. The company provides a financial management system (FMS) Software-as-a-Service that solves complex problems in finance, such as multi-currency consolidation and automation of daily processes. The investment will enable AccountsIQ to grow its team to over 200 people and deliver more value to its customer base. Tony Connolly, Founder and CEO of AccountsIQ, stated that the investment will allow them to leverage AI tools to make finance team roles more flexible and valuable.
Cloudbench, a leading Google Cloud partner and vertical AI consultancy, has earned a new Google Cloud Expertise designation in Financial Services. This recognition highlights Cloudbench’s consistent success in delivering measurable business value and outcomes for its FinTech, InsurTech, and Web3 Digital Asset startup and midmarket clients. The certification process evaluates each partner’s client experience, professional certifications, and expertise in Google AI and Cloud. Only the most qualified partners receive Google Cloud’s esteemed Expertise designations. Cloudbench CEO Tom Richer expressed their dedication to certified expertise and achieving project success for their clients.