Cortea raises €12M to help audit firms adopt AI without compromising audit quality
Cortea’s Audit Quality Agents reviewed more than 4,000 audit reports during the latest audit season, helping firms identify issues before sign-off and save auditors several days of manual review per engagement
- Cortea has raised €12 million from Dawn Capital, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and angel investors including Larry Bradley, former Global Head of Audit at KPMG
- The company also launches its first ‘Audit Quality Agents’ to review audit reports, disclosure notes and financial statements before sign-off, catching inconsistencies, missing information and potential errors that would otherwise be filed at Companies House
- The funding will accelerate the launch of further audit agents, deeper integrations with existing audit systems and expansion across the UK, the US and Germany
BERLIN and LONDON, June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cortea, the company building the AI quality layer for audit firms, today announced a €12 million seed round led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and angel investors including Larry Bradley, former Global Head of Audit at KPMG. The company also announced the launch of its first Audit Quality Agents, designed to help firms improve audit quality while increasing capacity across the audit process.
The announcement comes at a pivotal moment for the UK audit profession. Firms face growing pressure to improve audit quality while managing capacity constraints, heightened regulatory scrutiny and increasingly complex reporting requirements. At the same time, AI is rapidly moving from experimentation into real audit workflows.
For many firms, the challenge is no longer whether AI can improve efficiency. The challenge is how to adopt AI without compromising the quality, consistency and professional judgement that audits demand.
As Larry Bradley, former Global Head of Audit at KPMG and an investor in Cortea, puts it: "In audit and assurance, trust is everything."
That belief sits at the heart of Cortea's mission. The company was founded on the conviction that AI will transform how audits are performed, but only if firms can adopt it in a way that remains reviewable, defensible and capable of withstanding scrutiny.
How Cortea Audit Quality Agents work
Developed in collaboration with leading audit firms across the UK and Europe, Cortea's Audit Quality Agents review audit reports, financial statements, disclosure notes and workpapers before sign-off. The agents cross-check figures, disclosures and supporting documentation to identify inconsistencies, missing information, Companies House filing discrepancies and potential compliance issues in minutes rather than hours.
The agents are purpose-built for the completion and review stages of the audit and work alongside existing audit systems and workflows rather than replacing them. Findings are prepared for auditor review, helping teams focus more time on professional judgement and higher-value analysis while maintaining full control over the audit process.
Across the most recent audit season, Cortea's technology helped deliver more than 4,000 audit reports, identifying issues across every reviewed file and helping auditors save several days of manual review per engagement.
The launch marks the first step in Cortea's broader vision of helping firms adopt AI across the audit lifecycle while maintaining the quality standards expected by regulators, clients and the public.
Funding to transform the next generation of audit
The new funding will support the development of additional audit agents, deeper integrations with leading audit platforms and the company's expansion across the UK, Germany and the United States.
Valentin Neumann, co-founder and CEO of Cortea, said:
“The audit profession is about to undergo one of the biggest shifts in its history. AI will transform how audits are executed, but it will also raise the bar for quality, consistency, and professional oversight. Every audit firm is exploring how AI can improve the way audits are performed. The firms that succeed will be those that can combine the efficiency of AI with the rigour and trust that the profession demands. Our mission is simple: help audit firms use AI with confidence.”
Larry Bradley, former Global Head of Audit at KPMG, said:
"In audit and assurance, trust is everything. If AI cannot improve quality, transparency and professional judgement, it has no place in the audit process. Cortea is different because it is built for how audit firms actually operate. Cortea integrates AI into the audit process in a way that is controlled, traceable and practical. That is what the profession needs now: not more AI experiments, but technological innovation that firms can trust."
Dan Chaplin, Partner at Dawn Capital, commented:
"Now is the time to change the operating model for audit delivery. The team at Cortea have been determined to build a solution that works with auditors and for auditors. We believe they will be at the forefront of this transformation helping their partners not only to meet demand and scale capacity, but to improve quality at every step. We are delighted to be backing them."
About Cortea
Cortea is building the quality layer for AI-powered audits, helping firms use AI with greater trust, consistency, and professional oversight. Its Audit Quality Agents are built around auditing standards and review workflows, enabling firms to deliver more reliable and reviewable work while increasing capacity across the audit process. Cortea works with innovative audit firms across Europe, the UK, and the US.
Contact Irina Botea press@cortea.ai
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