New Zealand fintech startup Sterling has raised NZ$3.8 million in fresh funding to develop its AI-powered platform for finance teams and accelerate the company’s expansion.
The round was led by Blackbird, the trans-Tasman venture capital firm, backing Sterling as it develops software designed to automate repetitive accounting and finance operations.
Sterling describes its platform as an “autopilot” for finance teams, with AI agents handling routine work while leaving financial judgment and accountability with human staff. The company’s current capabilities include automated accruals, accounts payable processing, reporting, reconciliations, and other finance workflows.
Rather than functioning as another analytics dashboard or chatbot, Sterling is building software that performs operational tasks directly within finance teams. The platform connects with systems including Xero, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, and Acumatica, allowing its AI agents to work with existing accounting infrastructure.
“Finance teams are drowning in work that should not exist anymore.”
Sterling
The company’s approach reflects a growing shift in enterprise AI from tools that simply generate recommendations toward systems capable of completing structured workflows. For finance departments, that includes tasks such as processing invoices, categorising transactions, reconciling accounts, and preparing financial information for review.
Sterling’s focus is particularly relevant for smaller and mid-sized businesses, where finance teams often operate with limited headcount while managing increasingly complex accounting requirements. Automating repetitive processes could allow those teams to reduce manual workload without significantly expanding their finance operations.
Building AI for Finance Teams
Sterling was founded in New Zealand in 2025 and is headquartered in Wellington. The company is led by co-founders Nik Wakelin and Ludwig Wendzich, alongside Erin Moriarty, and has already begun working with paying customers.
The startup is positioning itself around a supervised approach to AI automation. Its systems are designed to carry out operational work while keeping humans responsible for decisions that require judgment or approval.
That distinction is becoming increasingly important as financial institutions and businesses experiment with autonomous AI. Finance operations involve sensitive financial data and processes where errors can have direct accounting, regulatory, and commercial consequences.
With the new funding, Sterling can continue developing its AI agents and expanding the range of finance processes they can handle. The company is also looking to grow its team and customer base as demand for practical AI automation in accounting increases.
Blackbird’s investment adds Sterling to a growing group of Australian and New Zealand startups applying AI to financial infrastructure and business operations. For Sterling, the challenge now is moving from automating individual finance tasks to becoming a broader operational layer for finance teams.
If successful, that model could shift AI accounting software from an assistant that advises finance professionals into infrastructure that actively performs much of the repetitive work behind modern finance departments.
