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Kintsugi

Can an AI-native challenger unseat Avalara as the default sales-tax compliance layer for ecommerce and SaaS?

Founded2023
HQSan Francisco, California, USA
FoundersPujun Bhatnagar, Barkin Doganay, Jeff Gibson
Total raised$28M+ across disclosed rounds (Series A $6M, extension $4M, Vertex-led $18M; earlier seed not itemised)
Latest roundVertex-led strategic round, April 2025 ($18M)
Valuation$150M post-money (April 2025)
IndustryInfrastructure / Tax Compliance
The story

Founded in 2022 in response to the post-Wayfair sales-tax compliance burden, Kintsugi positions itself as an 'AI-native' alternative to Avalara and TaxJar. The company started with US sales tax automation for ecommerce and SaaS, then expanded into VAT/GST across 100+ countries. Notably, for NetSuite customers it embeds Vertex's enterprise tax engine underneath its own AI workflows — a hybrid of proprietary AI and licensed enterprise tax content.

Last 12 months
2026-07
2025-10
2025-04
2024-11
2024-05
Product timeline
2023
Kintsugi founded in San Francisco to automate sales tax compliance using AI.· pivot
2024
Raised $6M Series A led by Link Ventures at $40M valuation.· funding
2024
Series A extension (November 2024) led by Airwallex doubled the valuation to $80M post-money.· funding
2025
Vertex led an $18M round (April 2025) with a $15M minority investment for ~10%, IP sharing and a revenue-share partnership; valuation $150M post-money.· funding
2025
Vertex and Kintsugi launched 'Kintsugi powered by Vertex' (2025-10-08), combining Kintsugi's automation layer with Vertex's tax content.· product
2026
Expanded to VAT/GST coverage in 100+ countries; launched Kin AI assistant and MCP server for developers.· product
2026
Native integration in the SHOPLINE App Store (2026-07-08): a commerce platform offers Kintsugi directly to its merchants.· product
The stack
4 layers disclosed in Kintsugi’s embedded-finance stack
Money movement
ACH
Card network
in the full report
Unified APIs
in the full report
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
7 more providers across 3 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.