Petual, an AI-driven platform specializing in audit and compliance solutions, has successfully raised $20 million in funding aimed at enhancing Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance and internal auditing processes for large enterprises.
This funding round saw participation from notable investors including Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Cowboy Ventures, and Elad Gil. The investment will support the acceleration of product development and the expansion of Petual’s market capabilities.
Petual’s advanced AI platform automates the collection of evidence and the creation of work papers for SOX testing and internal audits. It efficiently processes both structured and unstructured data such as screenshots, PDFs, and Excel files, producing comprehensive, auditor-ready documentation within minutes, compared to the extensive hours typically required for manual preparation.
The generated outputs comply with external auditor standards, with traceable reasoning linked to the original sources. The platform includes an approval workflow that ensures human oversight remains integral throughout the auditing process.
Petual claims that clients can realize efficiency improvements between 68% and 80% in current SOX workflows. Its initial client roster features companies from both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 across various sectors, including energy, software, infrastructure, manufacturing, and financial services.
Erin Dempsey Heuwetter, head of audit, risk, and compliance at Navan, remarked, “For a large public company, it is essential to maintain audit quality while scaling effectively. Petual allows us to achieve both objectives, producing structured, auditor-ready work papers in a fraction of the time previously needed.”
Brian Roberts, a general partner at a16z and a member of Petual’s board, stated, “It is uncommon for an early-stage company to attract large enterprise clients so quickly in their development. This highlights the attractive market opportunity for Petual and the quality of the product they have created.”