TaxScouts closes £5M Series A to build the Pan-European Tax Service 

• This round of investment is led by Octopus Ventures, joined by US-investor Clocktower Technology Ventures and previous investors Speedinvest and others completing the round
• The company has appointed a Country Manager for Spain, with plans to launch a product for the Spanish market 
• The team of 16 will triple in size over the next year and has already seen a significant increase in early self-assessment filings for the 2019/20 tax year as more people switch to affordable online tax services as a result of Covid19

London, UK – 4th August 2020: TaxScouts, the company making tax preparation effortless for the UK market, has announced a Series A investment round of £5M to further its mission to build a Pan-European Tax Service. The company is expanding into its first market outside the UK and is establishing a team in Spain, following the appointment of a Country Manager. 

The latest investment round brings its total funding to date to £6.5M. The £5M Series A has been led by Octopus Ventures, with previous investors SpeedInvest, Seedcamp and Finch Capital, also returning for the round. They have been joined by Clocktower Technology Ventures, a Californian headquartered VC specialising in financial technology, TaxScout’s first American investor. 

Having been successful with its service to navigate the UK tax system, Spain has been chosen as the first market for the business due to the size of the market and the complexity of the tax system. TaxScouts will expand to further markets soon after. 

Mart Abramov, Co-Founder and CEO of TaxScouts, commented: “We see a huge amount of potential in launching TaxScouts into Spain. Naturally, the weather and the wine were considered when picking the market, but having successfully built a solution for one of the trickiest tax systems in Europe, we are confident that we can deliver another great product for Spain’s complex tax structure. The market is double that of the UK, and this is the first step to us building a Pan-European tax service. We will build the go-to solution for anyone across Europe to easily file their tax return regardless of its complexity. This investment will enable us to quickly scale up a team to support our new Country Manager in Madrid, and launch other new products in the UK.”

Since launching in January 2018, TaxScouts has grown 5X year-on-year. The company expects to file tens of thousands of tax returns over the next year and is scaling up its partner network with even more accountants around the UK.

Compared to previous years, TaxScouts saw an additional 30 percent increase this April in the overall number of people looking for help with their self-assessment returns for the 2019/2020 tax year. The increased interest in early submissions has been driven by Covid19.

Abramov added:

“With the current Covid19 crisis and the pause on work for millions of self-employed people, many have been eager to get their taxes sorted as soon as possible in order to apply for any financial support from the UK Government. Social distancing enforced by the government means that people are now much more open to adopt fully online services where they can get all the support they need leaving their homes.”

In just a few clicks, customers provide enough information for a certified TaxScouts accountant to quickly prepare their tax return. This is submitted to HMRC via an integration, often in less than 24 hours, for the flat fee of £119. Where possible the service pulls information from online sources.
The Series A investment will be used to develop the company’s new Spanish service and make key hires across its engineering, product, and marketing teams, as well as establish the local office in Spain. A Country Manager has been appointed and will operate the team from Madrid. TaxScouts aims to triple its team in 2020. 

Nick Sando, Investment Manager at Octopus Ventures, added: “We all know tax can be a nightmare, and for many, it can fill us with a sense of dread. It’s one of those things we know we have to do, but we don’t rush to do. TaxScouts changes this. What seems like a difficult task for an individual, becomes quick and easy. Having seen the success of TaxScouts and the potential for this to be replicated in other markets with complex tax systems, we see a huge potential for one service that works for everyone.”

Anthony Danon, Associate Partner at Speedinvest, said: “Having worked with TaxScouts and followed the team since 2018, we are delighted to continue to support the company. Co-Founders Mart, Dan, and Kaupo have great experience under their belts having come from Transferwise, MarketInvoice, and Skype. They have built a great team and a strong product, and we look forward to watching them expand into Europe.”
For more information, go to taxscouts.com

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Press Kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K9EtAO0evm0Dk2r2Xiv0TbhSCsaGwMKk?usp=sharing
Press Contact: Cathy White, CEW Communications for TaxScouts[email protected]+44 (0)7791232834

About TaxScouts

TaxScouts removes the stress and hassle of preparing and submitting your personal income tax return. With just a few clicks, you provide enough information for your certified TaxScouts accountant to prepare your tax return quickly and correctly. End-to-end it’s fast (often submitted to HMRC in as little as 24-hours), super-simple and costs a flat £119. No situation is too complex. 

Rated “5 stars” on TrustPilot, the company is on a mission to develop one-click tax returns, eliminating effort for the millions of Brits who spend countless hours trying to navigate the HMRC self assessment maze or who spend £250+ for an accountant. But it’s not just taxpayers who love the service. TaxScouts partners with certified accountants who praise its admin-reducing CRM that makes preparing personal tax returns easier, so they can focus on better bespoke advice for each user.

 
Backed by world-class investors – Octopus Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, SpeedInvest, Finch Capital and Seedcamp – TaxScouts was founded by early employees who helped build successful European startups, including TransferWise, Skype and MarketInvoice.

About Octopus Ventures 

Octopus Ventures helps pioneers change the world. The pioneers we back dare to reimagine the future of health, money and deep tech. With £1.3 billion under management, Octopus Ventures is one of the largest VCs in Europe. Our typical investment is from £1 million for Seed to £10 million for Series B and we can follow our investment from a few hundred thousand right up to £25 million. Our team is based in London and New York with Venture Partners in San Francisco, Singapore and China. The companies we back become a part of this network, with access to a formidable resource of experience and expertise.  Octopus Ventures has backed the founding teams of nearly 100 companies including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Elvie, Depop, Sofar Sounds and Cazoo. Some of our portfolio companies have gone on to join forces with the world’s largest businesses including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter.  Our investment team is focused on the three areas we believe have the most potential to change the world for the better:

• Future of Health – Backing pioneers who are transforming the health industry from digital therapeutics through to biotechnology
• Future of Money – Backing pioneers who seek to vastly improve society’s ability to exchange and allocate financial resources and risk 
• Deep Tech – Focusing on the tools and technologies that will power the next industrial revolution. These include quantum computing, robotics and drones, sensory human augmentation and 3D printing

*As at 31 March 2020. FuM includes funds under advisory mandates and funds monitored 

About Speedinvest

Speedinvest is an early-stage European venture capital fund with more than €400M AuM and 40 investment professionals working from Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, Vienna and San Francisco. Employing a sector-focused investment structure, we fund innovative technology startups in the areas of Fintech, Digital Health, Consumer Tech, Network Effects, Deep Tech and Industrial Tech. Speedinvest actively deploys its global network and dedicated team of more than 20, in-house operational experts to support our 150+ portfolio companies, including with US market expansion.