Blue J raises $176M to put AI agents to work for tax professionals

Toronto-based Blue J, which develops AI tools for tax research, has raised $176M in a Series E funding round led by JMI Equity, valuing the company at more than $700M, or over C$1bn.

Existing investors Oak HC/FT and Sapphire Ventures also participated, alongside Intrepid Growth Partners. JMI principal Jack Duane will join Blue J’s board as part of the deal.

The funding comes about 15 months after the company’s $122m Series D in August 2025. Blue J said its annual recurring revenue has grown by 165% since then.

The company began by helping tax professionals find answers to complex tax questions. Its research tool has now handled more than 14 million queries.

It is using the new funding to move further into the work that follows, with most of the money going towards Workflows, a set of AI agents designed to carry out routine tax tasks.

These include checking tax returns before filing, drafting responses to IRS letters and reviewing partnership and trust agreements. The agents can also determine where a business owes taxes across different US states and prepare emails to clients.

Each task comes with the sources used and a record of the steps taken by the AI, allowing tax professionals to check the work before making the final decisions.

“An answer is rarely the end of a tax professional’s job. It’s the beginning of the work a client needs done,” said Benjamin Alarie, Blue J’s chief executive and co-founder.

He said the company’s aim is to give every tax professional a team of AI agents that they can direct, leaving people to concentrate on judgment, strategy and client relationships.

Blue J will also invest in expanding its presence in the UK and other markets. More than 6,500 organisations already use its software, including Big Four accounting firms and Fortune 100 companies.

The company has doubled its workforce over the past year and expects to have more than 200 employees by the end of 2026. In October, it partnered with Legora to bring its tax research tools to the legal AI platform, which has more than 140,000 users.

Blue J is part of a growing group of companies building AI software for specific professions. Accounting is another area attracting investment. Rillet , for example, recently raised $100m to develop AI agents for corporate accounting.