Record OS raises $2M pre-seed to bring its Making Tax Digital platform direct to consumers
June 10, 2026
Record OS, a London startup building a platform for UK self-assessment and Making Tax Digital compliance, has raised $2M (approximately £1.5M) in a pre-seed round led by Episode 1, with additional backing from angel investors including former CFOs and senior leaders from Wise, Revolut, Deliveroo and Alphabet.
The company is addressing a UK tax filing market that has long combined high costs, opacity and recurring errors. Despite widespread use of professional advisers, mistakes in self-assessment returns remain common — a problem both co-founders encountered personally. The launch also comes at a structural inflection point: since April 2026, the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative has required self-employed workers and landlords earning more than £50,000 to submit quarterly digital updates to HMRC, with the threshold set to fall to £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028, pulling the majority of the self-employed market into digital compliance over the next two years.
Record OS combines software automation with mandatory expert review — every filing is checked by a qualified tax professional before it is submitted, giving customers the speed and price of a digital product alongside assurance that has traditionally come only from a full-service adviser. Pricing starts at £125 for standard returns, £250 for more complex filings and £500 for specialist cases involving trusts, offshore income or complex investments. The company was founded by Dhruv Chadha and José Luis De La Peña, both early Wise employees who met during the fintech’s growth period. Chadha previously held roles at Google and the crypto analytics platform Nansen. Record OS first built tooling for accounting firms before the founders concluded that individual taxpayers faced the same structural problems — prompting the pivot to a direct-to-consumer product. It currently operates with a six-person team in central London.
The company has not disclosed revenue figures or customer numbers, but new users filing during June 2026 are eligible for 20% off their self-assessment filing. Episode 1 General Partner Hector Mason said the firm views Record OS as a potential default platform for self-assessment and digital tax filing as the UK system undergoes one of its biggest structural shifts in decades. Form Ventures also participated in the round alongside the angel syndicate. The new capital will be used to continue developing the platform and expand its UK customer base.
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