Marble Secures $9M Seed Funding to Deploy AI Agents for Tax Professionals

10 hours ago7 min read

The $250 billion U. S.accounting industry, strained by a shrinking workforce and escalating regulatory complexity, is poised for an AI-driven transformation. Startup Marble has raised $9 million in seed funding, led by Susa Ventures with participation from MXV Capital and Konrad Capital, to build specialized AI agents for tax professionals.While AI has rapidly reshaped fields like law and software development, accounting has remained dependent on manual processes and legacy systems. Marble’s executive chairman, Geordie Konrad, frames the core challenge: large language models must act as reasoning agents capable of navigating the intricate U.S. tax code, not merely as advanced word processors.This shift from simple automation to intelligent augmentation demands a sophisticated technical architecture, but the potential payoff is significant. The sector faces a severe labor crisis, with a 17% decline in its workforce since 2019—roughly 340,000 professionals—and a 33% drop in first-time CPA exam candidates between 2016 and 2021.As approximately 75% of licensed CPAs reached retirement age by 2019, the talent pipeline is failing to refill, exacerbated by barriers like the 150-hour education requirement. This shortage coincides with a tax landscape growing more complex by the year, forcing firms to forgo lucrative advisory work because they are overwhelmed with compliance tasks.Marble’s strategy begins with a free, AI-powered tax research tool that distills dense government documents into clear, citation-backed answers—a trust-building move in a security-conscious industry. The company’s roadmap envisions autonomous agents that can analyze compliance scenarios and eventually automate segments of tax preparation workflows.The goal is not to replace accountants but to rebalance their work, much as computer-aided design shifted architecture from drafting to creative design. By delegating repetitive compliance work to AI, firms could unlock higher-margin strategic advisory services, boosting both profitability and job satisfaction.Industry readiness is accelerating: a 2025 survey found 84% of finance and tax teams now use AI extensively, up from 47% in 2024, while major firms like Deloitte and EY are making billion-dollar AI investments. For widespread adoption among smaller practices, however, solutions must address deep-seated data privacy concerns and deliver more than generic chatbot functionality.Marble competes with well-funded rivals like BlueJ and legacy players like Thomson Reuters, but it bets that the converging pressures of a demographic cliff and advanced AI capabilities represent an inflection point. The central question is no longer whether AI will change accounting, but whether startups like Marble can build the trusted, purpose-built systems needed to turn a capacity crisis into an opportunity for profound professional reinvention.

#Marble

#AI tax startup

#accounting automation

#seed funding

#labor shortage

#regulatory complexity

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