In a bold move to disrupt decades-old enterprise accounting software, AI-powered accounting startup Campfire has raised a $35 million Series A, led by Accel. The round also included Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, Capital 49, and notable angel investors like Dan Kang, CFO of Mercury.
Founded in 2023 by John Glasgow, Campfire offers an LLM-powered alternative to traditional ERP platforms like NetSuite. And it’s gaining serious traction. In less than a year, the startup has convinced multiple fast-growing companies to ditch NetSuite entirely in favor of its AI-native platform. That list includes Advisor360, Rhumbix, and Fooji.
From Bingo Night at YC to a Full-Fledged ERP Challenger
Glasgow isn’t your typical YC founder. While most are in their twenties, he brought 15 years of finance experience to the table—from Fidelity to Adobe to Invoice2go, which was acquired by Bill.com for $625 million. That deal gave him both the capital and the insight to build something new.
At YC in summer 2023, he stood out at startup bingo night for being one of the few parents in the room. But what really set him apart was his conviction that ERP—enterprise resource planning—was long overdue for an overhaul.
Campfire’s mission? Eliminate the drudgery of finance teams. Instead of slogging through AWS cloud bill reconciliations, month-end close chaos, and tedious due diligence, Campfire automates it all using large language models. Users can ask natural-language questions and get real-time insights, detailed cash flow breakdowns, and itemized expense reports.
“One customer went from a 15-day to a 3-day close,” Glasgow said. That kind of efficiency has made early adopters eager to switch from bulky legacy tools.
Proving It Can Punch Above Its Weight
Despite being a team of just 12 employees, Campfire already supports around 100 customers—one of whom, Glasgow noted, is on track to hit $250 million in annual recurring revenue. That kind of early traction raised eyebrows at Accel, particularly for John Locke, who backed Invoice2go and typically only invests at the growth stage.
“I was surprised there were companies of this size trusting their entire ERP system to a 10-person team,” Locke said. But the traction—and the opportunity in the $56 billion ERP market—was too compelling to pass up.
So Locke made an unusually large bet: a $35 million Series A, just nine months after the startup’s founding.
“We believe the AI ERP business is massive, and John is exactly the right person to take it on,” Locke said. “So why not go big early?”
Glasgow’s approach is already winning converts. With a product that replaces legacy systems and shortens month-end close cycles, Campfire is positioning itself as a real alternative in a space long dominated by outdated giants like Oracle’s NetSuite.
And with backing from Accel and YC, and a focus on automating what finance teams hate most, Campfire is turning what was once back-office pain into front-line intelligence.
