Canopy Raises $20M Round to Modernize the Experience Between Tax Professionals and Their Clients

LEHI, Utah, March 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canopy, the practice management platform for tax professionals, announced today that it has closed a $20 million Series B financing led by Pelion Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), EPIC Ventures, and Deep Fork Capital. This round brings Canopy's total funding to $30 million to date. Canopy is a cloud-based platform built to make the notoriously painful tax filing process more efficient and transparent for both tax professionals and their clients.

Thousands of tax professionals and millions of their clients waste countless hours on tax filings every year; furthermore, practitioners are forced to juggle complex tax regulations, filing deadlines, and client relationships with outdated software. Until Canopy, there hasn't been a comprehensive, cloud-based software solution to help tax professionals manage this chaotic workflow.

"Our vision is that tax professionals will be able to focus their time and energy on consulting their clients, rather than the repetitive busywork they are typically buried in," said Kurt Avarell, Canopy Founder and CEO. Canopy saves tax practitioners an average of 5-10 hours per week. "This funding makes it possible for us to tackle some of tax professionals' biggest pain points, and for their clients to get the experience they're looking for when they turn to a professional for help with their taxes."

Canopy has grown by more than 20 times in the last year, making it one of the fastest growing FinTech startups and demonstrating the tremendous need that exists in the industry.

Tax professionals are also turning to Canopy to combat the increasing popularity of do-it-yourself tax options. "Modern tax professionals need to create an intuitive, transparent experience for their clients if they want to compete in today's market," Avarell said.

"Canopy is tackling one of the biggest, most cumbersome problems in the tax industry," said Chad Packard, partner at Pelion Venture Partners. "We're delighted to join in their mission to humanize the relationship between tax practitioner and client, as well as simplify the painful income tax process. Canopy is growing at an incredible pace. We're excited to see how they'll continue to improve the lives of tax practitioners and their clients across the country."

Canopy, headquartered in Lehi, Utah, is hiring. For more information, go to: canopytax.com/careers.

About Canopy

Canopy is a cloud-based practice management and tax resolution software. The modern, easy-to-use software cuts out tax practice busywork, improves the client's experience, and brings all the different tools a practitioner needs under one roof. Canopy is also known for its free 2-Minute IRS Transcripts tool. Canopy was founded by Kurt Avarell, who walked away from his career as a Wall Street tax attorney to launch Canopy from his basement in 2014.

About Pelion Venture Partners

Pelion Venture Partners is an early stage information technology and software venture capital firm that has invested in more than eighty deals across six funds. The firm targets high margin enterprise software environments where management of data, computing, storage, networks security and data analytics are the defining characteristics. Pelion has been a partner to leading technology innovators CloudFlare, Fusion-io, Unifi Software, Integral Ad Science, Elastica, UpGuard Security, RedHat, and Riverbed. For additional information, visit www.pelionvp.com

About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With approximately $17 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in information technology, healthcare and energy technology companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 200 portfolio company IPOs and more than 320 acquisitions. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

About EPIC Ventures

EPIC Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in 1994, EPIC Ventures' mission is to find and support great entrepreneurs regardless of location. The firm focuses primarily on Series A investments across the IT stack, from SaaS to networking technologies. For additional information, visit www.epicvc.com.

About Deep Fork Capital

Deep Fork Capital is a San Francisco- and New York City-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing globally in entrepreneurs who are building disruptive, technology-driven companies in the Consumerized Internet. Founded, funded and operated by entrepreneurs, Deep Fork Capital partners are familiar with the challenges and opportunities of launching and building a new business; as such, the firm seeks to collaborate actively with the entrepreneur throughout the lifecycle of their business. For additional information, visit www.deepforkcapital.com.

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SOURCE Canopy Inc.