New Zealand artificial intelligence startup Sterling has raised NZ$3.8 million ($2.2 million) in a funding round led by trans-Tasman venture capital firm Blackbird, as it looks to expand its AI-powered automation platform for finance teams.
The round also attracted investors including Rowan Simpson and Eliot Crowther, as well as alumni of New Zealand technology companies Trade Me, Pushpay, Xero, and Vend.
Founded in 2025 by Nik Wakelin and Ludwig Wendzich, Sterling develops what it calls an “AI autopilot” for finance teams, automating workflows including invoice processing, bank-feed reconciliation and month-end routines.
The software integrates with tools already used by finance teams, including enterprise resource planning systems and accounts inboxes, rather than replacing existing systems. Sterling said every action taken by its software is logged, while ambiguous tasks are escalated to a human.
“Finance teams don’t want another chatbot to talk to about their work. They want something that does the work,” Wakelin, Sterling’s co-founder and chief executive, said.
Sterling has teams in Wellington and Auckland. Its early customers include finance teams at Manukora, Storypark and Echelon, while its development has also been supported by a New Zealand government research and development grant.
Wakelin previously co-founded time-tracking software company MinuteDock and developer documentation platform Gelato.io and held a senior engineering role at Deliveroo.
Wendzich spent close to a decade in product and design roles at Vend and later Lightspeed following its acquisition of the New Zealand retail software company. He previously worked as a senior front-end engineer at Apple.
“The impact of AI on accounting workflows is going to be seismic. Accountants will see their roles shift from operational to strategic, and we’re excited to get them there,” Wendzich said.
Blackbird Principal James Palmer said finance teams were facing a growing number of AI demonstrations and products focused on individual workflows, but lacked tools offering reliability across multiple use cases.
“What’s missing is a product that offers reliability and scales beyond the first use, this is what Sterling delivers,” Palmer said.
The new capital will be used to hire staff and target larger enterprise customers in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
Wakelin said Sterling’s focus over the next 12 months would be demonstrating that its AI software can reliably perform finance work while keeping every action logged and explainable.
Sterling said it is SOC 2 Type II certified.
