Fund administration software company Caruso has raised $9.3 million in a Series A round that valued it at $80 million, led by Icehouse Ventures and GD1, with private credit manager Balmain, one of its own customers, investing again, Startup Daily reported in May 2026.
The round puts fresh money behind a part of finance that rarely draws attention. Private market assets reached about US$21 trillion globally in 2025, and much of the back office work behind them, from investor registers to compliance, still runs on spreadsheets and older software. Caruso is betting that fund managers will move that work onto an AI-native platform.
What Caruso does
Caruso builds software that fund managers use to administer their funds. The platform handles investor registries, compliance, capital raising and investor portals, the operational tasks that sit behind a fund once the investment team has done its work.
The company was founded in New Zealand and now has offices in Sydney, Auckland and Dallas. It is led by co-founder and chief executive Mark Hurley, who started the business with Oliver Shaw.
The raise
Icehouse Ventures and GD1, both New Zealand venture firms, led the Series A. The pair also led Caruso’s seed round in 2023.
Balmain, one of Australia’s larger private credit fund managers, uses Caruso’s software. It led the company’s previous round in 2024 and followed on in the Series A, according to Startup Daily.
The growth
Caruso reported that assets under administration on its platform rose tenfold in a year to $80 billion, while revenue grew 400%. More than 900 funds and over 80 fund managers now use the software, and ASX-listed property group Centuria Capital is among its customers, the company said.
Fund administration tends to be a sticky category. Once a manager has moved its registers, investor records and reporting onto one system, switching providers is costly and slow, which gives incumbents and fast-growing challengers alike a durable revenue base.
Jack’s take
When a customer paying for the software also wants equity in the company, I read that as one of the strongest signals in venture. Balmain sees the product every day and chose to back it twice. Fund admin is not glamorous, but the stickiness is the whole point.