Denki Raises $4.1M for AI Financial Audits

The $4.1M seed round for Denki was co-led by Base10 Partners and Shine Capital, with notable participation from Y Combinator and 20VC. The company, founded by brothers Felipe Jin Li, 24, and David Jin Li, 20, was part of YC's Fall 2025 cohort. Denki aims to modernize a financial audit industry that still heavily relies on manual, evidence-heavy processes. Traditional audits are often plagued by time-consuming evidence collection, reliance on small data samples for testing, and a high potential for human error. This legacy approach creates significant friction and cost for public companies navigating strict compliance regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). The founders bring a blend of AI and financial engineering expertise to the auditing challenge. CEO Felipe Jin Li was a Ph.D. researcher in Explainable AI at University College London, while David Jin Li studied computer science at Imperial College London and built financial data pipelines at a firm used by top hedge funds. Denki's platform is designed to integrate with existing systems like AuditBoard and Workiva, automating control processes such as collecting evidence and conducting walkthrough interviews. The goal is to make audits more like structured, reproducible software processes, allowing auditors to focus on high-judgment risk analysis rather than administrative tasks. The startup enters a market ripe for disruption, with regulators demanding stricter oversight and accounting firms facing a talent shortage. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued $35.7 million in penalties in 2024, signaling increased scrutiny of audit quality. With the new funding, the two-person founding team plans to hire engineers and auditors. Denki's focus is on pre-IPO and publicly listed companies, where the compliance and evidence requirements are most extensive.