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Modus

Fintech · New York City, United States · Founded 2025

Modus is a holding company that develops an AI-native audit technology platform and strategically acquires accounting firms. Founded in 2025 by Arush Jain (CEO), Pranav Pillai, and Vinay Kasat, the company aims to modernize the public accounting industry, which has been historically underserved by technology. The founding team combines experience from firms such as Palantir, Citadel, Ramp, Thoma Bravo, Bridgewater, and AWS. Modus has secured $85 million in Seed and Series A funding in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Comma Capital and Garry Tan. The company operates a dual-pronged business model. Firstly, it develops proprietary artificial intelligence technology to enhance the auditing process for accounting firms. This technology is designed to automate manual and time-intensive procedures, improve risk assessment, and allow auditors to concentrate on judgment-driven work. The platform functions as an operating system that integrates a firm's various systems into a single hub, using AI agents to execute tasks and normalize financial data. It also enables partners and managers to train AI assistants on their specific review standards to automatically identify risks and generate comments. Secondly, Modus acts as a strategic acquirer of CPA firms. It partners with and invests in established, audit-first accounting firms, aiming to preserve their existing culture and client relationships while equipping them with its modern technology. This strategy is designed to improve the audit quality, efficiency, and scalability of its partner firms. Since its launch, Modus has invested in a top 200 accounting platform, which is projected to more than double its organic growth rate in 2026 through the deployment of the Modus platform. The company operates in an alternative practice structure (APS), common in private equity-backed accounting deals, where Modus Audit LLC and its subsidiaries provide non-attest services, while member CPA firms handle attest services in accordance with AICPA regulations. Keywords: AI-native audit, audit technology, accounting firm acquisition, CPA firm partnership, public accounting technology, audit automation, risk assessment automation, financial data normalization, alternative practice structure, tech-enabled audit services, professional services technology, accounting industry consolidation, audit quality, audit efficiency, Arush Jain, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Palantir alumni, accounting AI, audit software, financial services technology