Pryce Yebesi, former Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Utopia Labs (recently acquired by Coinbase) has secured $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Kindred Ventures to launch his new company, Open Ledger. Joined by Co-Founder Ashtyn Bell, Open Ledger aims to disrupt the accounting software space by building an extensible, AI-powered accounting protocol that can be embedded into virtually any product.
Yebesi founded Utopia Labs as an undergraduate student at WashU, where he was an active member of the Skandalaris startup ecosystem. When launching Open Ledger he leaned into his WashU network; Skandalaris Expert-in-Residence Guy Friedman (CEO & Co-Founder of SteadyMD) and entrepreneurship professor Doug Villard are both involved as angel investors, and the startup’s first engineer, Raj Thaker (LA ’23), also has strong ties to the Skandalaris Center. Read below to learn more about Open Ledger and Yebesi’s entrepreneurial journey.
Open Ledger was born from the realization that accounting tools are overly complex and fragmented. Open Ledger’s core thesis is that the data needed to run accounting efficiently is disjointed and hard to make actionable. The platform aggregates and orchestrates financial data and then uses AI to execute seamless accounting functions within existing platforms. By embedding an extensible ledger system powered by AI, Open Ledger eliminates the need for businesses to switch between platforms, automates time-intensive processes, and provides real-time insights. This approach simplifies workflows and makes financial management more accessible and intuitive.
Open Ledger aggregates and orchestrates every data source for its companies, allowing AI to execute accounting functions with full financial context. Open Ledger’s technology is centered around building ledgers that can interact with specialized machine learning and large language models (LLMs), allowing for more accurate, automated financial record-keeping. By embedding its modular, API-first protocol into existing platforms, Open Ledger offers businesses an intelligent, extensible accounting tool.
The $3 million pre-seed round was led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Blank Ventures, and angel investors like Zach Abrams, CEO of Bridge (acquired by Stripe). Notably, Kindred’s Kanyi Maqubela, who previously collaborated with Yebesi at Utopia Labs, championed the investment.
Yebesi’s journey to Open Ledger began at Utopia Labs, where he led the development of stablecoin invoicing products. As the company grew, he recognized broader challenges in accounting workflows—businesses relied on outdated, static software like QuickBooks. “When we built invoicing products at Utopia, we saved our customers 70-80% of the time they spent on accounting tasks,” said Yebesi. “That experience led me to realize the need for more extensible and embedded accounting solutions. Open Ledger is our answer to that challenge – an AI-driven, modular accounting tool that lives where our customers already work.”
After Utopia’s acquisition by Coinbase, Yebesi spent time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the WashU Skandalaris Center, working closely with small businesses in the St. Louis community. His interactions during this period reinforced the need for accounting products that integrate directly into the platforms businesses already use, reducing friction and increasing efficiency.
Open Ledger is currently in beta with select customers with plans to announce initial case studies soon. The company is actively hiring engineers, product managers, and business development leaders to accelerate growth. To learn more or join their team, visit openledger.com.