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§ Private Profile · Los Angeles, CA, USA
Fintech SaaS platform managing federal, state, and local tax compliance for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs.
Founded in 2019 by Shiloh Johnson, ComplYant develops a software platform that helps small businesses and solo entrepreneurs manage federal, state, and local tax filing deadlines, payments, and notices from a centralized dashboard. Based in Los Angeles, California, the financial technology company provides automated breakdowns of corporate tax obligations based on specific business types and geographic locations, alongside white label software solutions for accounting professionals. Before abruptly ceasing its business operations, the enterprise scaled its workforce to between 36 and 55 employees. During this time, the platform served thousands of active customers, reportedly helping them avoid over four million dollars in annual late fees and tax penalties. The startup secured over five million dollars in total venture capital funding, highlighted by a seed round led by Craft Ventures with strategic participation from Mucker Capital, Slauson and Company, and Techstars.
ComplYant has raised $6.2M across 2 funding rounds.
ComplYant has raised $6.2M in total across 2 funding rounds.
ComplYant has raised $6.2M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $6.0M Seed in February 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2022 | $6M Seed | Craft Ventures | ACT ONE Ventures, King GOH, Matrix, Moving Capital, Pareto Holdings, Plug & Play Ventures, Quiet Capital, Josh Mohrer, Mucker Capital, Slauson & CO., Techstars | Announced |
| Jul 1, 2021 | $170K Seed | — | Techstars | Announced |
ComplYant was a Los Angeles-based fintech startup founded in 2019 that built software to help small business owners and solo entrepreneurs manage tax compliance from a single dashboard, including income tax, sales tax, business licenses, annual reports, deadline tracking, budgeting, and tax education.[1][2][3] It targeted the 31 million U.S. small businesses struggling with fragmented tax processes, saving thousands of customers over 70,000 hours and $4 million in late fees annually at its peak, with services starting at $9.99/month.[1][2][5] The company raised over $10 million in venture funding, including a $5.5 million seed round in 2022 led by Craft Ventures with participation from Mucker Capital, Slauson & Co., and Techstars, but abruptly shut down in 2023 amid challenges like lack of product-market fit and fewer than 50 paying users.[1][2][5]
ComplYant was founded in 2019 by Shiloh Johnson, a former CPA and accountant with no prior tech experience, who bootstrapped the company while running her tax practice.[1][2] Johnson self-taught coding via Codecademy before hiring contractors, driven by her firsthand observations of small business owners overwhelmed by tax deadlines, late fees, and complex compliance.[1][2] Key early milestones included participation in LA accelerators: Grid110's inaugural South L.A. cohort in 2020, MuckerLab, and Techstars LA in 2021, which provided launch support and pre-seed funding from Mucker Capital and Slauson & Co.[1][2] Johnson, one of few Black women founders raising over $1 million in VC that year, grew it to $28,000 monthly recurring revenue within eight months using her $50,000 personal investment.[1][5]
ComplYant rode the fintech democratization wave post-2019, targeting small business tax pain points amid rising entrepreneurship during COVID-19, when fragmented compliance led to billions in penalties.[1][2] Timing aligned with accelerators amplifying underrepresented founders in LA's startup scene, highlighting trends in accessible SaaS for the "long tail" of 31 million U.S. small businesses ignored by enterprise tools.[2][3] It influenced the ecosystem by proving minority-led ventures could attract top VC (e.g., Craft Ventures praising industry-founder fit), but its 2023 shutdown underscored market forces like intense competition from low-tech features and pricing sensitivity, exposing risks in fintech without strong product-market fit.[5]
ComplYant exemplified gritty, founder-driven fintech ambition but faltered on scaling traction, shutting down abruptly in 2023 with employees unpaid for months and no severance, leaving a cautionary tale for early-stage compliance startups.[5] Founder Shiloh Johnson may pivot given her expertise, potentially reemerging in tax tech or advisory. Shaping trends include AI-driven automation eclipsing manual tools, stricter VC scrutiny on revenue post-2022 downturns, and growing demand for inclusive fintech—ComplYant highlighted small business needs but showed execution gaps in a crowded market. Its legacy: inspiring diverse founders while underscoring that domain knowledge alone can't outpace product evolution.
ComplYant has raised $6.2M in total across 2 funding rounds.
ComplYant's investors include Craft Ventures, Act One Ventures, King Goh, Matrix, Moving Capital, Pareto Holdings, Plug & Play Ventures, Quiet Capital, Josh Mohrer, Mucker Capital, Slauson & Co., Techstars.