Toronto’s Blue J raises US$176M Series E

Toronto-based Blue J, which sells AI-powered tax research software, announced Tuesday that it has raised US$176 million (about C$249 million) in a Series E round led by U.S. growth equity firm JMI Equity, valuing the company at more than US$700 million.

Existing investors Oak HC/FT and Sapphire Ventures took part in the round, along with Intrepid Growth Partners, the company said in a news release. Blue J put the valuation at more than C$1 billion.

The round comes 15 months after Blue J raised a US$122-million Series D, which was announced in the summer of 2025. The company said its annual recurring revenue has grown 165 per cent since that round and 529 per cent over three years, as reported by BetaKit. It did not disclose revenue figures, though chief executive Benjamin Alarie told BetaKit the number is in the “mid eight-figures”.

Blue J said more than 6,500 organizations now use its platform, up by roughly 2,500 since the end of 2025, and that it has doubled its staff over the past year. It expects to have more than 200 employees by the end of the year, with most of the hiring in Toronto, Alarie told BetaKit.

The company said it will use the money to build out Workflows, a feature that goes beyond answering tax questions to producing work such as return reviews, notice responses and client communications for accountants and tax lawyers to check. Alarie said the goal is for the platform to handle most routine work products of a tax practice by the end of next year, including drafting replies to a notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Blue J also plans to open a United Kingdom office. Its software already covers U.K. tax law, but Alarie told BetaKit the company has no staff there yet. Its platform answers questions on federal, state and local taxes in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

JMI principal Jack Duane will join Blue J’s board. JMI has backed other Canadian software companies, including Clio, Safe Software, PointClickCare, Vena and Jane, according to BetaKit.

The raise follows the federal budget, tabled last week, which our budget explainer covers. Earlier this month, Toronto’s Ada agreed to merge with U.S. firm Dialpad, and Wealthsimple unveiled its Penny AI assistant. More deals are in our Canada Tech & AI Watch.

Alarie, a tax law professor who co-founded the company in 2015 with Brett Janssen, Anthony Niblett and Albert Yoon, said the aim is “building Canada’s next great tech company right here from Toronto”.

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Sources: Blue J news release, Nov. 10, 2026; BetaKit, Nov. 10, 2026.