Caruso wins $9.3M funding, scales AI fund services
Caruso has raised AUD $9.3 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the New Zealand-founded fund administration software company at AUD $80 million.
The round was led by Icehouse Ventures and GD1, with participation from Balmain, an Australian private credit fund manager that also uses Caruso's platform.
Caruso provides registry and fund administration software and services to fund managers. More than 80 fund managers now use its system, including Centuria Capital Group. Over the past year, assets under administration rose tenfold to AUD $80 billion, while revenue increased 400 per cent.
The company is targeting a part of financial services that still relies heavily on manual processes and older software. Global private market assets reached USD $21 trillion in 2025, while many back-office operations across the sector still depend on spreadsheets and disconnected systems.
Customer growth
One of Caruso's recent customer wins is Centuria, the ASX-listed property funds manager. Centuria selected the platform after due diligence and a procurement process. The relationship also expands Caruso's reach from unlisted private market funds into listed funds and companies, starting with Centuria's listed vehicles.
"Everything we do at Centuria is in service of our investors, and that extends to the infrastructure behind our fund operations," said Jason Huljich, Chief Executive Officer of Centuria Capital Group.
"Caruso gives our investors more transparency and a better experience, while freeing our team to focus on what we do best. AI-native fund administration is going to become the standard globally for companies that do what we do, and Caruso is leading the way," Huljich said.
Caruso now serves more than 900 funds across real estate, private credit and private equity. It has offices in Sydney, Auckland and Dallas.
Hiring plans
The new funding will support product development and hiring. Headcount is expected to rise to more than 80 across Australia, New Zealand and the US, while the share of staff based in Australia is projected to increase from 25 per cent to about 50 per cent of the total workforce.
Mark Hurley, Caruso's chief executive, said the company offers a unified system for investor and fund data across customer relationship management, registry, compliance, capital raising and investor portal functions.
"We are removing the admin from fund administration," Hurley said. "For the first time, our customers have a single source of truth for their investor and fund data across CRM, registry, compliance, capital raising and the investor portal. Integrated with that system of record, we give them a system of action: people and AI agents working together to do the work faster and more accurately than ever before."
Investor view
Balmain's participation extends its backing, following its lead in Caruso's September 2024 funding round. The latest raise also includes continued support from New Zealand venture investors Icehouse Ventures and GD1.
For investors, the company's growth metrics are central to the story. Alongside the increase in assets under administration, Caruso is seeking to show that software and services providers in fund administration can win larger institutional clients in Australia, where procurement cycles are often long and operational change can be difficult.
Jack McQuire, a Partner at Icehouse Ventures, pointed to the size of the market Caruso is targeting and the outdated software still used across much of the sector.
"The fund administration industry's global impact is immense. It touches almost every aspect of people's lives, from infrastructure like roads and housing to retirement savings. Despite this, the industry still runs on decades-old software," McQuire said. "Caruso's rapid growth to date is just the beginning of what their AI-native platform can unlock for this industry."
More than 80 fund managers now use Caruso's platform, with AUD $80 billion in assets under administration.