Parallel raises $2.4M to launch the AI-native finance team for startups

SALT LAKE CITY — October 9, 2025 — Parallel today announced the launch of its AI-native forecasting platform and a network of dedicated fractional CFOs that together give early stage companies a complete, always on finance team—without the cost and complexity of hiring in-house.

Parallel also announced a $2.4 million seed round led by Night Capital and K5 Tokyo Black, with participation from Penny Jar Capital, Background VC, Mintaka VC, Path Ventures and strategic operators including Jeron Paul (Founder, Spiff), Jared Rodman (Co-founder, Weave), Colin Zima (Founder, Omni) and Alex Bean (Co-founder, Divvy). The capital will accelerate product development, expand the fractional CFO network, and deepen integrations that keep models live and audit ready.

For most early‑stage founders, finance is a constant tax: brittle spreadsheets, back‑of‑the‑napkin math, and expensive consultants for decisions that drive runway, hiring, and growth. The result is useless plans, stressful fundraises, and narratives investors do not trust. And start-ups making the same mistakes over and over again. 

“Founders do not need another spreadsheet. They need an always current plan and a partner who can reason about tradeoffs,” said Renato Villanueva, Parallel founder and CEO. “Parallel combines finance agents that do the work with CFO judgment that stands behind the plan, so teams can move faster with confidence—from hiring plans to the next raise.”

How Parallel works

Parallel delivers a complete solution—software plus service—to make elite finance accessible:

• Always on model: Connects to QuickBooks and Puzzle to stand up a live, auditable forecast in minutes and keep it current.

• Finance agents: Embedded AI agents clean and map data, roll the model forward, run scenarios, explain variances in plain language, and draft board and investor materials.

• Expert oversight: A dedicated fractional CFO supervises the agents, validates assumptions, adds judgment, and takes responsibility for the plan.

Built to scale with you

Founder-led teams use Parallel’s AI native finance platform for runway modeling, headcount planning, and investor diligence. Onboarding is seamless: each team is paired with a fractional CFO who oversees the initial plan and adds judgment. As companies hire in house finance leaders, those teams continue using the same platform. With role based controls, audit trails, and live integrations, Parallel becomes the FP&A system of record from day one through scale—no tool switch required.

Early outcomes

"Due diligence finished without a single follow‑up financial question," said Atul Raghunathan, founder of Hyperbound. "What usually takes weeks of back and forth happened in days, with complete investor confidence in our projections."

"Parallel gave us the clarity and confidence to scale our sales team, timed to cash and targets, in a way we otherwise would not have," said Caleb Hicks, founder of SchoolAI.

“Finance tools hours every week and we still didn’t have clear answers. Now we spend minutes on decisions we make with 10x the confidence.” - Ethan Whitehead, founder of Salesdraft.

What Parallel provides

• Always on model: Live, accurate forecast built in minutes and always up to date.

• Finance agents: Autonomous workflows for data hygiene, scenario modeling, variance explanations, and board packs.

• Expert strategic partnership: A fractional CFO to prep boards, manage fundraising data rooms, and pressure test decisions.

Parallel currently serves B2B SaaS companies from pre-seed through Series A and beyond. Learn more at getparallel.com.

The Road Ahead

Our vision is simple: finance should never be the reason a startup fails. With Parallel, every founder can have the clarity, confidence, and tools to make smarter decisions and close rounds faster.

This $2.4M seed is just the beginning, and we’re excited to build alongside the next generation of ambitious founders.

About Parallel

Parallel is the AI‑native forecasting platform that gives VC‑backed founders CFO‑level insight without building a finance team. By pairing embedded finance agents with fractional CFOs, Parallel delivers faster planning, proactive scenarios, and board‑ready reporting, so founders always know their runway and can operate with confidence.

Media contact: press@getparallel.com | renato@getparallel.com

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