Berlin-based Cortea raises €12 million Seed round to build AI quality layer for audit firms

Cortea, a Berlin-based startup building the AI quality layer for audit firms, has raised €12 million in a Seed funding round and announced the launch of its first Audit Quality Agents, designed to help firms improve audit quality while increasing capacity across the audit process. The round was led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and angel investors including Larry Bradley, former Global Head of Audit at KPMG. Valentin Neumann, co-founder and CEO of Cortea, said, “The audit profession is about to undergo one of the biggest shifts in its history. AI will transform how audits are executed, but it will also raise the bar for quality, consistency, and professional oversight. Every audit firm is exploring how AI can improve the way audits are performed. The firms that succeed will be those that can combine the efficiency of AI with the rigour and trust that the profession demands. Our mission is simple: help audit firms use AI with confidence.” Founded in 2024 by Neumann and Philipp Hövelmann, Cortea is building the quality layer for AI-powered audits, helping firms use AI with greater trust, consistency, and professional oversight. The company states that its Audit Quality Agents are built around auditing standards and review workflows, enabling firms to deliver more reliable and reviewable work while increasing capacity across the audit process.  According to Cortea, audit firms are facing growing pressure to improve audit quality while managing capacity constraints, heightened regulatory scrutiny and increasingly complex reporting requirements. At the same time, AI is rapidly moving from experimentation into real audit workflows. It also notes that for many companies, the question is no longer about whether AI can boost efficiency. Instead, the challenge lies in implementing AI without sacrificing the quality, consistency, and professional judgment required in audits. Larry Bradley, who was the former Global Head of Audit at KPMG and is now an investor in Cortea, states: “In audit and assurance, trust is everything.” “That belief sits at the heart of Cortea’s mission. The company was founded on the conviction that AI will transform how audits are performed, but only if firms can adopt it in a way that remains reviewable, defensible and capable of withstanding scrutiny,” Cortea mentioned in the press release.  Cortea highlights that its Audit Quality Agents were developed in collaboration with leading audit firms in the UK and Europe. These agents review audit reports, financial statements, disclosure notes and workpapers before sign-off. The agents cross-check figures, disclosures and supporting documentation to identify inconsistencies, missing information, Companies House filing discrepancies and potential compliance issues in minutes rather than hours. The company highlights that the agents are purpose-built for the completion and review stages of the audit and work alongside existing audit systems and workflows rather than replacing them.  Findings are prepared for auditor review, enabling teams to devote more time to professional judgement and higher-value analysis while maintaining full control over the audit process. Cortea reported that during the most recent audit season, its technology helped deliver more than 4,000 audit reports, identifying issues in every reviewed file and helping auditors save several days of manual review per engagement. Dan Chaplin, Partner at Dawn Capital, commented, “Now is the time to change the operating model for audit delivery. The team at Cortea have been determined to build a solution that works with auditors and for auditors. We believe they will be at the forefront of this transformation, helping their partners not only to meet demand and scale capacity, but to improve quality at every step. We are delighted to be backing them.” With this fresh capital, the company will support the development of additional audit agents, deeper integrations with leading audit platforms and the company’s expansion across the UK, Germany and the United States. The post Berlin-based Cortea raises €12 million Seed round to build AI quality layer for audit firms appeared first on EU-Startups.