Synthetic raises $10 million to build autonomous AI bookkeeping

Synthetic, a new software startup, has secured $10 million in a seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures to develop a fully autonomous AI bookkeeper. The product, which is currently in the design phase, aims to generate accrual-based financials—an accounting method where revenue and expenses are recorded when they occur, rather than when cash changes hands—without direct human involvement. Other participants in the funding round include Basis Set Ventures and Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke.

The investment comes amid the fallout of his previous business collapsing. Founder Ian Crosby’s previous startup, Bench, famously shut down in 2024 before being bought for scraps. Bench ultimately imploded, but Crosby maintains he wasn’t directly responsible for bringing Bench to the point of insolvency. According to Crosby, he was fired by Bench’s board in 2021, three months after he turned down a $250 million acquisition offer from Brex. The board disagreed with his strategic direction as the business was bleeding cash, and his executive team was reportedly frustrated with his direct leadership style. After leaving Bench, Crosby spent time at Shopify and founded Teal, another accounting startup, which was acquired by Mercury 18 months later.

Despite the history, Khosla Ventures partner Jon Chu defended the decision to back Crosby. Chu noted that in controversial situations, groupthink often shapes the narrative rather than the truth of the story itself, pointing to Parker Conrad’s 2016 ousting from Zenefits before founding Rippling, which is now valued at nearly $17 billion. Chu stated that he believes people have room for growth, acknowledging that Crosby took a big swing and made mistakes that did not go well.

Synthetic plans to serve only AI and other software startups, positioning itself against traditional competitors like Xero. However, Crosby acknowledges that AI models still make significant bookkeeping mistakes. While the startup’s prototype works for a narrow group of users, Crosby remains uncertain how it will scale, comparing it to a self-driving car that has not driven down enough streets to know if it will crash. Because the vision may not yet be technologically possible, Crosby plans to wait for foundational models to become more reliable. He noted that he has raised years of cash to wait out the technical challenges, but remains committed to full automation. “It’s that or bust.”

Why it matters

Synthetic is attempting to automate complex accounting tasks using AI, a high-stakes pivot for a founder whose previous venture faced significant public collapse. If successful, the startup could eliminate human intervention from corporate bookkeeping, though it must first overcome the accuracy limitations of current AI models.