What happened: US startup Open Ledger has announced a $3 million funding round for its embedded accounting offering (TechCrunch). Open Ledger is not the US's first startup in this space; the most prominent name is likely LayerFI. The third provider was Teal, but SME banking provider Mercury acquired the startup in September 2024.
My comment: Embedded finance describes the process of embedding payment, banking, lending, investment or insurance products into a non-financial customer experience. Accounting is one of the standard answers when considering where this concept could be extended. A simple example is a vertical SaaS provider that doesn’t only want to embed a banking or lending product but aims to offer its clients a full-fledged accounting solution. The challenge for embedded accounting infrastructure providers is that different industries have different demands, and being more attractive than an in-house solution can be a tough pitch. Perhaps it is easier in the US than in Europe, where the localisation challenges are even more significant. There are also providers in the European space, most notably Monite. However, these players tend to focus on specific elements (e.g., accounts receivables & payables) and don’t aim to offer the whole accounting stack.
