Closing the Financial Visibility Gap

Layer, a San Francisco–based startup, has secured $6.6 million in seed funding led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Better Tomorrow Ventures and top angel investors. Founded in 2023 by Justin Meretab and Daniel O’Neel, Layer is on a mission to make accounting invisible and effortless for small and medium-sized businesses by embedding it directly into the software they already use every day.

For most SMBs, accounting is a constant source of friction. Business owners juggle sales, payments, payroll, and customer engagement across multiple tools, but still rely on spreadsheets or expensive external bookkeepers to understand their financial position. Layer addresses this problem by offering an embedded AI-powered accounting and bookkeeping service that sits inside the existing software platforms SMBs trust most.

How Layer Works

Layer combines AI-driven transaction categorization, automated reconciliations, and monthly financial reporting with human oversight to ensure accuracy. The service integrates through a simple API and prebuilt UI components, giving SMBs real-time access to their financial data without switching contexts or hiring additional staff.

Early adopters - including Moxie, Nav, Dripos, Duet, Carry, and Reeva - are already seeing the impact: cleaner books, faster close cycles, and improved decision-making, all without leaving their primary business software.

In many ways, Layer doesn’t just make accounting easier; it transforms it into a strategic growth lever. By giving operators clarity on cash flow, margins, and runway, Layer empowers them to make faster, more confident business moves.

Turning Accounting from Burden to Asset

A subtle but powerful element of Layer’s strategy is how it reframes accounting from a back-office chore to a proactive business asset. Instead of waiting for end-of-month reports or annual tax surprises, operators can see real-time snapshots of financial health, understand trends, and spot issues before they snowball.

Here’s where founders can extract a critical lesson: Layer’s success comes from tackling the “silent tax” of friction that most users have accepted as inevitable. SMBs rarely complain outright about fragmented financial workflows - they just live with them. By designing for this invisible constraint and removing it entirely, Layer doesn’t just improve accounting; it fundamentally changes how SMB owners run their businesses.

This is the kind of insight that can transform product-market fit. When you solve for pain points users don’t vocalize - problems they think they must tolerate - you create a product that feels obvious, indispensable, and even delightful. Adoption doesn’t need to be forced; it spreads naturally because it empowers users in ways they hadn’t realized were possible.

Scaling Embedded Finance

With its $6.6 million raise, Layer plans to expand its engineering and product teams, deepen AI capabilities, and build integrations with more SMB-focused software platforms. The company’s goal is to become the financial backbone that fuels software providers while dramatically increasing engagement and customer lifetime value.

Layer’s model aligns perfectly with the surging demand for embedded finance solutions. Rather than bolt-on features or clunky add-ons, Layer’s accounting service becomes part of the daily workflow - turning financial insight into a seamless extension of business operations.

The Bigger Opportunity Ahead

The embedded finance space is booming, and accounting remains one of the most complex and underserved areas. By embedding bookkeeping, Layer not only saves SMBs time and money but also enhances the stickiness of the platforms they rely on.

As small businesses continue to digitize and demand more integrated solutions, Layer is positioned to become a default choice for software providers looking to add new value without building massive financial infrastructure from scratch.

Why Timing Matters

Today’s SMB owners expect their tools to be fast, intuitive, and interconnected. Layer’s solution checks all these boxes, delivering immediate clarity and eliminating friction - at a time when cash flow visibility can make or break a business.

By embedding accounting into daily software, Layer empowers SMBs to operate with the confidence of large enterprises, without the overhead. The result? More resilient businesses and stronger relationships with their software providers.