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Aura Accounting Solutions is a new firm in Irvine offering startups and other small companies their own chief financial officers.
“It makes sense for a startup to outsource,” founder and Chief Executive Brandon Kordower said.
He has a secret for small companies—a CFO’s role isn’t often a full-time job. Instead, CFOs are spending their time at meetings rather than their typical work of analyzing and forecasting data, he said.
Kordower himself is CFO of nine companies with revenue ranging from $5 million to $35 million.
Aura, launched last year, already has 35 customers. The company has eight employees and plans to expand to 14 early next year and to soon outgrow its 1,000-square-foot office.
The 31-year-old Kordower, a graduate of California State University-Fullerton, got the idea after working for an outsourcing accounting firm. He targets companies with fewer than 50 employees.
“Every company needs a CFO, whether it has one employee or a thousand,” Kordower said. “Instead of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a CFO, you get managed accounting and CFO-level expertise for a fraction of that price.”
It charges from $55 to $160 an hour, which can result in savings of 20% to 40%, he said. Competitors include other outsourcing accounting firms, such as Signature Analytics, which has an office in Irvine.
Kordower isn’t a certified public accountant, but he said that hasn’t hindered his business.
“Usually after a quick meeting with the client, they are reassured that we can handle the work.”
He also convinced his brother Derek Kordower, 43, to join as chief operating officer. Derek, who’s worked in the insurance industry for almost two decades, also provides advice on insurance needed by customers.
The company has found a niche among tech startups. Kordower said many small businesses are booming but that they aren’t paying much attention to accounting needs.
“We’re coming in, cleaning up and giving them great insight.”
— Peter J. Brennan
Funding
Husband and wife Will Crampton and Linda Li want to take integrated education concept 12Career from concept to reality, and are seeking a $15 million in Series A to build its first compact theme park in Southern California.
Crampton, who’s had a long career in the training and education sectors, said the goal is to create a platform that “gives students experiences where they can see, learn and do fun high-tech activities.”
In addition to the miniature theme park Wisdom World, the Newport Beach-based company plans to introduce complementary hands-on and online learning games.
Li, managing director, previously worked for China Mobile as a manager in the marketing and data departments.
It’s looking for a theme park location, a building of 30,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet, roughly the same size as a midsize big-box department store. Potential locations include Anaheim, Santa Ana, Long Beach and Pasadena, Will Crampton said.
12Career was founded a year ago, but he said the couple have been working on the concept for five years. It’s raised $800,000 in seed capital.
— Sherry Hsieh
Launch
The Business Journal reported in August that Newport Beach-based private equity man Matthew Witte was closing his Marwit Management—whose roots are with his late father, Martin—to focus on more personal efforts, including buy-ins.
One of those has debuted.
Son Benjamin Witte launched cannabinoid-infused sparkling water Recess two weeks ago—think La Croix on something nicer-feeling than steroids. The product quickly garnered attention from Bon Appetit, Fast Company, AdWeek, Glossy and Bustle.
“He sold out of his initial product run,” Matthew said, adding that New York retail distribution starts soon.
California interest has come online, “but it will take some time to ramp up production and broaden his [retail] distribution,” he said.
Matt has committed fatherly advice and capital, and “has also raised several million dollars from other investors.”
Recess makes club soda that includes hemp extract and “adaptogens” to address mood, focus, memory and immunity, among other things.
Flavors are blackberry chai, peach ginger, and pomegranate hibiscus; a six-pack sampler sells for $30.
Website taglines for the product include, “We canned a feeling” and “not tired, not wired.”
Beverage giant Coca-Cola is also interested in the space. It said in September, “Along with many others in the beverage industry, we are closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverage around the world.”
— Paul Hughes
