Audrey AI, a Dublin-based AI platform for financial statement audits, has raised $1.8M in pre-seed funding led by Sure Valley Ventures and Delta Partners. The platform automates client document requests (PBC) and tests of details, producing review-ready workpapers tailored to firm methodologies. The capital will fund team expansion in engineering and audit specialists.
AI Audit Funding Accelerates
The raise arrives amid surging investor interest in audit AI. DataSnipper raised $100M Series B in 2024, while Fieldguide has secured $92M total. MindBridge AI amassed over $50M, including a $29.6M growth round. Audrey AI's agentic approach, emphasizing traceability and auditor judgment, targets gaps in Excel-reliant workflows.
Auditors Face Manual Overload
Financial auditing remains heavily manual, with firms relying on spreadsheets for data validation and testing. Chronic talent shortages pressure margins, as noted by investors. Pilots show Audrey AI delivers over 85% time savings on PBC validation and tests of details per company data. This addresses a $100bn global market still lagging in AI adoption.
Agentic AI Masters Firm Workflows
Audrey AI's PBC Agent handles client requests, validation, and processing, while the Test of Details tool drafts procedures and manages exceptions. Unlike anomaly detection tools, it learns from historical audits and firm-specific methodologies for full traceability. Enterprise-grade security includes SOC 2 Type II compliance.
As CEO Ryan Loughran noted:
"Developers have Copilot, lawyers have Harvey, but auditors still primarily work in Excel."
This highlights the gap Audrey fills with audit-tailored agents.
Investors Validate Regulated AI Bet
Sure Valley Ventures, with exits like Getvisibility to Forcepoint, leads alongside Delta Partners, whose partner Dermot Berkery is a former auditor. Enterprise Ireland and angels like ex-CalypsoAI CEO Donnchadh Casey join. The syndicate signals conviction in AI for regulated sectors amid talent crises.
As Dermot Berkery stated:
"Ryan and David have built something that doesn’t just automate tasks but raises the bar on audit quality."
AI Audit Market Scales Rapidly
The AI in audit market stands at $1.0B in 2023, projected to reach $11.7B by 2033 at 27.9% CAGR. Drivers include data complexity and regulatory demands like the EU AI Act. 76% of internal audit teams now test AI models per recent surveys.
Founders Bring Proven Expertise
Co-founders Ryan Loughran (CEO) holds a Stanford MBA, accounting qualification, and Qualtrics EMEA leadership. David Burke (CTO), ex-VP Engineering at Inscribe (AI document AI for fintech) and Datahug (acquired for $13M), scaled document-heavy platforms. Their blend de-risks enterprise adoption in audits.
Pilots Pave UK Expansion
With live pilots at top-10/20 firms and endorsement from HLB Ireland, Audrey plans engineering hires and Ireland/UK growth. Founded in 2025 at Dogpatch Labs, the funding accelerates from pilots to scaled deployments.