Accounting software company Xero zeros in on QuickBooks with $67M

Online accounting software company Xero just announced raising $67 million. Xero takes a “design-centric” approach to online accounting, offering a suite of tools to help customers manage their finances. The cloud-based technology is connected to bank accounts, so all data is automatically updated and visible. Businesses can use Xero for payroll, invoicing, bill paying, expenses, inventory tracking, and budgeting. It has over 100,000 paying customers around the world.

Xero is a public company. It was founded in New Zealand and is active on New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. With this hefty investment, it will attempt to infiltrate the US market, a space dominated by QuickBooks. This investment was led by Valar Ventures, which is backed by Peter Thiel, and Matrix Capital Management. Thiel participated in Xero’s round of $16.6 earlier this year. Of the $67 million, $49 million came in the form of capital, and $18 million came from purchased shares.