Stocard Founder Björn Goß Receives 12 Million Euros to Fundamentally Change the Tax Industry

Skalar, providing digital tax consulting for companies, led by Björn Goß, Niklas Wagener, Florian Lang, Martin Gugel, and Christian Pötter, has closed a pre-seed and seed funding round totaling €12 million. The round was led by Headline, with participation from futurepresent, QED Investors, Repeat, MS&AD, and Foreword, as well as several prominent angel investors.

Founded in 2025 by former Stocard founder Björn Goß alongside Niklas Wagener, Florian Lang, Martin Gugel, and Christian Pötter, Skalar is rethinking tax software from the ground up. Rather than retrofitting legacy systems with AI, the company is building an AI-native platform designed to transform tax and accounting workflows.

The approach comes as the tax profession faces a growing talent shortage across the US and Europe, with a declining number of accountants and tax advisors increasing demand for more efficient, AI-driven solutions.

The shortage of skilled tax professionals has become a significant challenge for businesses, making it increasingly difficult to secure tax advisory services and meet regulatory requirements. In Germany, nearly three-quarters of companies report difficulties finding qualified talent, highlighting the severity of the workforce gap in tax consulting.

While AI is widely expected to modernize legacy industries, tax remains constrained by manual workflows and software not designed for AI. These challenges inspired Skalar to build an AI-native platform that reimagines tax and accounting processes from the ground up.

“Many industries see AI as a solution to structural challenges, but the bigger opportunity lies in rethinking industries from the ground up,” said Björn Goß, Founder and CEO of Skalar. “Tax and accounting require more than AI layered onto legacy software, they need entirely new workflows built for the AI era.”

Skalar is building an AI-native tax platform where AI agents automate repetitive tasks and work alongside tax experts, enabling faster, more efficient services. By connecting directly to clients' systems, the platform aims to deliver real-time insights and advice rather than relying on retrospective reporting.

Within weeks of launch, parts of Skalar's workflows were already automated, allowing a single tax expert to manage more than 100 clients. The company received over 1,000 customer inquiries in its first three months and plans to use the new funding to expand automation and scale its AI platform.

“Many companies are adding AI to legacy software, but the underlying limitations remain,” said Jonathan Becker, General Partner at Headline. “Skalar is taking a fundamentally different approach by rebuilding tax services around AI from the ground up. Combined with the founding team's operational expertise and experience scaling successful businesses, that positions the company to redefine the industry.”