mika, a Berlin-based genAI startup focused on eliminating bureaucratic overhead for small businesses, has secured €800k in pre-seed funding. The investment round was led by Samen Slimmer, an alliance composed of Keen Venture Partners, DFF, and Slimmer AI.
Founded in 2023, mika builds generative AI-powered autonomous agents to handle accounting tasks, tax filings, and financial advice – making financial management more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective for small businesses.
In its earliest phase, mika was supported by founding investors Christian Gaiser, Alexander Lorenz, and Fabian Wittleben, who played a crucial role in the initial development of the startup. As part of mika’s development, the company has been a participating startup in Earlybird Venture Capital’s Vision Lab, a program for exceptional founders in Germany of migrant origins who are building compelling solutions.
Small businesses struggle with complex accounting, tax filings, and financial planning. mika leverages generative AI to automate these tasks, helping entrepreneurs focus on growth and innovation instead of bureaucracy. A recent study by INSM found that 90% of businesses in Germany see bureaucracy as a major burden; mika aims to alleviate that as an initial step. The company has plans to serve more of Europe later, since similar problems exist in neighboring countries, as evidenced by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s findings.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, yet they’re drowning in bureaucracy—overcharged, underserved, and lost in paperwork,” said Agnieszka M. Walorska, CEO and Founder of mika. “Having bootstrapped my first business as a migrant with no network, I know these challenges firsthand; that’s why I’m building mika. Imagine having a CFO-level AI in your pocket, handling all the financial complexities so you can focus on your passion. That’s mika.”
The €800k pre-seed funding will support further development of mika’s AI-powered accounting and tax co-pilot, initially focusing on the €10 billion German market. This investment round was driven by the Samen Slimmer alliance—comprising Keen Venture Partners, DFF, and Slimmer AI—secured crucial backing for mika to enhance its AI capabilities.
Djoni de Vos, Investor at Keen Venture Partners, commented: “Agnieszka makes it possible to get enthusiastic about tax and accounting, and that’s quite the accomplishment. The opportunity to bring AI into play to simplify financial management is enormous, and we are very pleased to back an entrepreneur in this space as resilient and driven as Agnieszka.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/06/berlin-based-mika-bags-e800k-to-automate-accounting-and-tax-filings-for-small-businesses/
