Intuit Launches New Venture Arm for Startup Investment

Intuit Launches Corporate Venture Capital Arm, Intuit Ventures

Intuit, the company renowned for its TurboTax software and other business and financial solutions, recently announced the formation of Intuit Ventures. This new initiative will focus on identifying promising growth opportunities and emerging trends that benefit the company’s core customer base: small businesses and individual consumers.

The launch positions Intuit alongside other industry leaders who have established corporate venture arms, including companies like WorkDay, Salesforce, and Zoom. CEO Sasan Goodarzi shared details about this new venture exclusively with TechCrunch.

Strategic Investment Focus

Initial investments will be directed towards key areas such as fintech, e-commerce infrastructure, platform development, and digital enablement. Furthermore, the venture will explore opportunities in virtual expert services, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi).

The concept for Intuit Ventures originated approximately one year ago. Goodarzi and Anton Hanebrink, Intuit’s chief corporate strategy and development officer, were evaluating the acceleration of both internal and external innovation pipelines.

Creating a venture arm was identified as a means to accelerate innovation and gain valuable insights from emerging companies, according to Goodarzi. He explained that Anton Hanebrink and Shveta Mujumdar will lead the venture, presenting investment recommendations to himself and Michelle Clatterbuck.

Investment Strategy and Key Areas

Intuit Ventures’ investment strategy encompasses several critical areas:

• Expert Connections: Facilitating access to digitized professional services like bookkeeping, accounting, and tax preparation through a virtual expert platform.
• AI-Powered Capabilities: Enhancing platform functionality using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and knowledge engineering, with potential applications extending beyond Intuit’s current offerings.
• Smart Financial Management: Developing a comprehensive platform for consumers to manage their entire financial lives, building upon acquisitions like Credit Karma and Mint.
• Small Business Customer Acquisition: Leveraging the Mailchimp acquisition to drive customer growth for small businesses through various channels.
• Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: Exploring talent and technologies related to cryptocurrency and blockchain to deliver value to customers.

The firm will typically consider investments in Series B and C funding rounds, potentially leading rounds alongside other venture capital firms. Identifying promising investments will prioritize the strength of the team and the company’s vision, alongside assessing how Intuit’s investment can contribute to its success.

Goodarzi emphasized that Intuit is prepared to allocate significant funds to the venture, stating that investment proposals will be considered until explicitly declined. He believes that exceptional talent and innovative ideas are abundant.

Initial Investments and Future Outlook

Intuit’s inaugural investment was made in Clearco, an e-commerce investment firm that recently secured $215 million in funding from SoftBank. The company also invested in Melio Payments, a platform enabling SMBs to make electronic payments via bank transfers, debit cards, or credit, which raised $110 million led by Coatue.

Clearco was selected as a first investment due to its commitment to diversity and its focus on e-commerce and omnichannel strategies, aligning with Intuit’s key strategic priorities. Its utilization of artificial intelligence capabilities was also a significant factor.

Goodarzi envisions Intuit Ventures as a supportive investor, offering guidance and partnership to help companies grow. He anticipates that successful investments may ultimately lead to acquisitions by Intuit.

A key differentiator for Intuit Ventures is its access to a platform serving over 100 million customers globally. This platform provides a valuable testing ground for potential investments.

“Our platform is a major draw for companies like Melio and Clearco,” Goodarzi stated. “Many are developing solutions we don’t currently offer, and providing them access to our customer base is crucial for evaluating their potential.”

Shveta Mujumdar, vice president of corporate development at Intuit and head of the venture program, along with Clearco’s co-founders Andrew D’Souza and Michele Romanow, will participate in a panel discussion titled “How to approach fundraising from corporate VCs” at TechCrunch Disrupt on September 22nd at 2 p.m. PT.