London AI Startup Raises £2.7m to Transform Financial Modelling
A new AI startup based in London, Tracelight, has secured £2.7 million in seed funding to introduce generative AI into financial modelling. Founded in 2024 by Peter Fuller, Aleksander Misztal, and Janek Zimoch, Tracelight plans to use this investment to expand its team and accelerate product development as it scales globally.
The company’s product is already available as an Excel add-in through the Microsoft Add-In Store, targeting analysts, consultants, and finance professionals who rely heavily on spreadsheets for their work.
Funding and Investors
The seed round was led by Chalfen Ventures, with contributions from Acequia Capital, Inovo, and Entrepreneur First. Notable angel investors include Charlie Songhurst, former head of corporate strategy at Microsoft, and Suhit Gupta, who has held CIO roles at General Atlantic and Carlyle.
How Tracelight Works
Tracelight connects spreadsheets with large language models (LLMs) by translating spreadsheet logic into a format these models can understand. This allows users to automate tasks like writing complex formulas, validating models, and running analyses by using simple natural language prompts.
Rather than replacing analysts, Tracelight automates repetitive tasks and supports better decision-making. Since its launch, the platform has gained traction among investment banks, private credit and equity firms, and professional services organisations.
Why It Matters for Product Developers
Financial models are critical to key corporate decisions. Until now, LLMs have had limited application in this space. Tracelight integrates AI directly into familiar tools like Excel, reducing manual workload and letting users focus on higher-level thinking.
CEO Peter Fuller explains, “Our goal is to remove the mechanical workload of financial modelling. Users become directors of AI, orchestrating it to perform Excel analysis with superhuman speed and accuracy.”
Investor Insights
Mike Chalfen of Chalfen Ventures highlights the value of Tracelight’s approach: “The best AI tools operate at a high level of abstraction, making them easy to adopt while handling complex tasks behind the scenes. Tracelight embeds AI into the world’s most widely used modelling platform, delivering immediate impact.”
He adds that the tool’s quick adoption in demanding financial environments points to a significant opportunity ahead.
For product development teams, Tracelight demonstrates how AI can enhance existing workflows without forcing users to switch platforms or learn entirely new systems. This approach can guide strategies for integrating AI into other complex, domain-specific software.
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