Updated:
Avalara
Avalara is a cloud-based software company based in Durham, United States, founded in 2004.
Avalara
Avalara is a cloud-based software company based in Durham, United States, founded in 2004. It provides compliance solutions for sales tax and other transactional taxes, such as VAT. Avalara has secured $340.6 billion in total funding.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2004
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Durham
Corporate office
Durham, NC, United States
Principals
Scott McFarlane
Co-Founder & CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs Avalara after its transition to a private company?
Amit Mathradas was appointed CEO of Avalara in October 2022, succeeding co-founder Scott McFarlane upon the close of the Vista Equity Partners acquisition. Mathradas had previously served as the company's President and Chief Operating Officer. Scott McFarlane transitioned to a board-level role.
How does Avalara generate its revenue?
Avalara primarily generates revenue through subscription-based software that automates sales-tax calculation, returns filing, and remittance for businesses. The platform integrates directly into ERPs, accounting software, and e-commerce systems. A substantial portion of revenue is recurring, tied to annual or multi-year compliance subscriptions.
What was the outcome of Avalara's 2022 take-private process?
In August 2022, Avalara announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners in an all-cash deal valuing the company at $8.4 billion. The transaction closed in October 2022, and Avalara's shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. It now operates as a private, standalone entity within Vista's portfolio.
Does Avalara participate in direct investment or venture activity?
Avalara is a software operating company, not a venture firm or family office. It does not manage third-party capital or make fund investments. Its historical deployment of capital focused on organic product development and acquisitions of complementary tax-content and compliance-software companies to expand its automation coverage.
Which jurisdictions does Avalara's tax engine cover?
Avalara's core coverage spans thousands of US state and local tax jurisdictions, including special districts. Internationally, it supports VAT and GST regimes across multiple countries, with growing coverage in the European Union, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and India, driven by both platform expansion and targeted acquisitions.
What is Avalara's relationship with e-commerce platforms?
Avalara is integrated into major e-commerce and marketplace platforms, including Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Adobe Commerce. These integrations serve as a scalable distribution channel, embedding compliance calculations directly into the checkout flow for merchants navigating the post-Wayfair sales-tax landscape.
Who co-founded Avalara and what was their original insight?
Scott McFarlane, Jared Vogt, and Rory Rawlings co-founded Avalara in 2004. Rawlings identified the compliance burden while running a small business that received a costly sales-tax audit notice. They built the company's early tax-content database by manually cataloging jurisdiction-specific rules, long before automated marketplace collection became a regulatory standard.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on asset managers?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: