Ember revolutionizes tax and accounting services with automation, seamlessly integrating expert accountant support within existing banking and financial management platforms.

We interviewed Dan Hogan, COO & Co-Founder, to explore Ember’s innovative vision and uncover the story behind the company’s bright future.

Dan Hogan Co-Founder & COO, Aaron Shaw Co-founder & CEO 

How did you start your entrepreneurial journey?

Unlike many others, my entrepreneurial journey didn’t start too early on. It all began later in life and was driven by a desire to challenge the status quo. While working at Deloitte in Melbourne and training to become a chartered accountant, I became frustrated with the inefficiencies and high costs imposed on businesses.

Realising that this wasn’t the path for me, I quit Deloitte as soon as I got my CA certification and went backpacking through Central and South America. After that adventure, I flew to London and started running the UK operations of a finance software company called Pegasus Systems. This role gave me my first taste of running a business, and I loved it. Eager for more, I fortuitously met Aaron at a WeWork, and the rest is history!

What is the company’s mission and how do you plan to pursue it?

There are 5.5 million business owners in the UK who spend an average of 15 hours a week struggling to stay on top of their financial admin. The status quo of hiring an old-school accountant or trying to navigate complicated, manual accounting software that wasn’t built for them, no longer works for the ambitious business owner who wants to succeed in this dynamic, fast-moving world.

Our mission is to liberate this new generation of ambitious business owners from the pain & frustration of dealing with this necessary evil by taking care of it for them. Built for the business owner, not the accountant, we put them in control of their business; freeing up their time by taking care of repetitive manual tasks for them and giving them access to the key information they need, when they need it. Whenever they come undone or get stuck, we’re there for them – providing expert advice and support to help them on their journey.

We’re for the creators, the side hustlers, the freelancers, the sole traders, the founders, the business owners, people with ambition or desire to do better – we exist to liberate them from the old guard and set them free.

Tell us the story behind starting the company?

The story of Ember starts back in 2018, a year before we officially kicked things off. Aaron, my co-founder, had just set up his first business—a software consultancy. He was overwhelmed by the compliance and admin tasks like tax, payroll, invoicing, and expense management. After a year of turmoil using the “best in class” at the time, he realised how much easier this could be made for business owners like himself. With the convergence of Open Banking, Making Tax Digital, and the potential of Machine Learning, it became clear that combining these innovations could solve this problem for him and millions of others.

By the end of the year, he left the consultancy, moved into a WeWork, and began laying the foundations for Ember. That’s where we met. I was running Pegasus at the time, and despite growing it to half a million in annual recurring revenue, I was frustrated with the accounting industry’s status quo. When we got to discussing the future of finance (over a beer at Christmas time in 2018), it was immediately clear that we had both felt the same problem but from two very different angles and from that – we hatched a plan to solve it.

What is your moat? How do you think you stand out?

Ember’s moat lies in our distribution and through seamless integration of accounting and tax software directly into their own banking platforms, which is a game-changer for SMEs. By embedding our financial services, we save business owners significant time and effort, providing them with key insights into their tax positions seamlessly, no matter where they do business. So that they can focus on growth rather than administrative burdens. Our use of real-time data, machine learning, and direct access to an accountant on hand, alongside compliance with the new Making Tax Digital initiatives, sets us apart.

What are you most proud of?

I’m incredibly proud of our recent embedded partnership launch with HSBC UK, which took over 18 months of hard work, negotiation, and determination to finalise. It was a challenging journey that tested the perseverance of our entire team. This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to revolutionising financial management for small businesses at scale. By integrating our innovative accounting automation technology with HSBC’s robust financial services, we’re making a significant impact on the industry. This achievement showcases the resilience and dedication of everyone at Ember, and it was a milestone that filled me with immense pride.

Where will the company be 5 years from now?

We’re laser-focused on becoming the default option for UK businesses right now and will be for the next 3-4 years. With the UK market alone worth over £4 billion/year and Making Tax Digital expanding this by a further £500 million from individuals not currently using software that will be legally required to use software – capturing as much of that as possible is our absolute priority. That said we don’t see the burden of accounting & tax administration being a UK-specific problem and in the longer term we see Ember moving into other markets, and our underlying architecture was built with this in mind. Rolling with an embedded go to market strategy means we can help our partners in the different geographies they already have a large presence and expand our global reach this way.

Click here to visit Ember website