CentSight launches with $1.5M pre-seed for AI-native SMB financial intelligence
What's the deal? CentSight, an AI-native financial intelligence platform for small and mid-sized businesses, launched publicly on June 24, 2026, backed by $1.5 million in pre-seed funding from Mudita Venture Partners.
Founded by Gerald Hetrick — who previously built Able, acquired by Bullhorn in 2023 — the Lakewood, Ohio company lets owners read their books and ask financial questions in plain English.
It connects to tools businesses already use, including QuickBooks Online and bank accounts via Plaid. Owners can ask about cash flow, revenue, runway, and margins without digging through spreadsheets.
At its core is Signals, a proactive alert system that watches connected data and flags issues early — a looming cash gap, a customer falling behind, or a margin narrowing — before owners think to ask.
Why now? More than 36 million small businesses operate in the US, yet strategic financial guidance stays out of reach for many.
Fractional CFO services can cost $3,000 to more than $18,000 per month, pricing many SMBs out of expertise larger firms rely on. CentSight aims to close that gap.
The company was built with Mudita Studios, the investor's company creation engine, giving it product, engineering, and go-to-market support at launch.
What could go wrong? CentSight depends on third-party integrations like QuickBooks and Plaid, so accuracy hinges on the quality of connected data.
Owners must also trust AI-driven alerts enough to act on them — a tall order for a tool replacing human financial judgment.
The signal: CentSight reflects a broader push to make AI a practical layer over the financial tools businesses already run.
"Too many good businesses run blind, not because the owners aren't smart, but because the answers have always been locked behind a CFO they can't afford," said Hetrick, chief executive officer of CentSight.
The bet: real-time financial intelligence, not static dashboards, is what owners need to decide faster. If it works, CFO-grade insight reaches a far larger group of companies.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
