Sterling Raises A$3.15M in Funding

Sterling, a New Zealand-based AI startup that builds an autopilot for finance and accounting teams, has raised A$3.15 million (NZ$3.8M) in seed funding. The company, which provides automated workflows for invoice processing and bank reconciliation, will use the new capital to expand its hiring and target enterprise clients across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

Investors

The funding round was led by Blackbird. Additional participating investors include Rowan Simpson, Eliot Crowther, and other founders from companies such as Trade Me, Pushpay, Xero, and Vend.

Sterling Use of Funds

Sterling plans to use the new capital to scale its hiring efforts and accelerate its expansion toward larger enterprise customers within New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

About Sterling

Founded in 2025 by Nik Wakelin and Ludwig Wendzich, Sterling develops an AI-powered autopilot platform designed to handle finance and accounting tasks such as bank reconciliation, month-end routines, and invoice processing. The software integrates with existing finance tools to provide explainable and automated workflows that function continuously to support finance teams.

Funding Details

Company Website: https://histerling.com

Company: Sterling
Raised: A$3.15M
Round: Seed
Funding Date: August 14, 2026
Lead Investor: Blackbird
Additional Investors: Rowan Simpson, Eliot Crowther, and other angel investors from Trade Me, Pushpay, Xero, and Vend
Software Category: Fintech
Source: https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/funding/kiwi-ai-startup-building-a-finance-teams-autopilot-banks-3-15-million/