Pilot Launches $250,000 Growth Fund to Support Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
New Pilot Small Business Growth Fund empowers business owners to invest in growth and offers access to cutting-edge bookkeeping, tax preparation and advisory services
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilot, the leader in AI-powered accounting and advisory solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups, today announced the launch of its Small Business Growth Fund, delivering a total of $250,000 in funding across 18 small business owners. Presented in partnership with Hello Alice, the fund supports small businesses across various stages of growth, whether they’re investing in operations, expanding their teams or strengthening financial infrastructures.
Small businesses drive nearly half of U.S. employment, but many are feeling the squeeze as banks tighten credit standards and raise interest rates, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. At the same time, research from Hello Alice shows many founders cannot access the full capital they need, even when their businesses are profitable. Together, these forces have created a structural gap between business performance and access to financing.
Through the Pilot Small Business Growth Fund, 18 business owners will receive grants to support them as they scale. The fund will offer one $50,000 grant, two $25,000 grants and 15 $10,000 grants. Each grant recipient will also receive one year of free Pilot bookkeeping services to support their financial management and growth.
“Small businesses fuel innovation and strengthen communities, but too many face barriers they shouldn’t have to,” said Jessica McKellar, founder and CEO of Pilot. “Economic uncertainty hits small businesses hardest, and they are the ones we must support the most. Our partnership with Hello Alice puts real money and real support behind businesses ready to grow—and takes accounting off their plate while they do it.”
Recipients of the Small Business Growth Fund will benefit from 12-month access to Pilot’s automated bookkeeping services. This includes its AI Accountant, the world’s first fully autonomous system that runs the entire bookkeeping process – from onboarding to final financial statements – with zero human effort. By unifying industry-leading data, process, and execution in a single system, the AI Accountant closes books in hours, not weeks, and frees business owners and local accountants to focus on growth.
“There is a growing disconnect between how small businesses actually perform and how they are evaluated for growth capital,” said Carolyn Rodz, Founder & CEO of Hello Alice. “Many founders are running healthy, revenue-generating businesses, yet financing decisions are still based on static snapshots, legacy credit signals, or long operating histories that fail to capture real operating health. Our partnership with Pilot ensures growth fund recipients gain greater financial visibility into cash flow, margins and business fundamentals that help close that gap and unlock more equitable access to growth capital.”
The Pilot Small Business Growth Fund is now open for applications. Applications will be accepted from February 24, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. ET to March 31, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. ET. Recipients will be announced on May 5, 2026.
For more information on eligibility and to apply, please visit: https://pilot.com/growth-fund
About Hello Alice
Hello Alice is an AI-powered platform for small business growth, serving more than 1.6 million entrepreneurs nationwide. Powered by the Business Health Score diagnostic, Hello Alice delivers personalized guidance, capital access, and curated opportunities that help small businesses accelerate revenue growth and build healthier, more resilient companies. By combining real-time insights with a national network of corporate, nonprofit, and public sector partners, Hello Alice connects small businesses to relevant capital, tools, and opportunities, while driving measurable engagement for the brands and institutions that support them. Founded in 2017 by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, Hello Alice is building the future of small business advisory. For more information, visit www.helloalice.com.
About Pilot
Pilot helps small businesses and startups run better financial operations with accurate accounting and expert advisory, delivered through AI automation and human oversight. The Pilot platform is powered by a proprietary dataset of millions of human-verified transactions, enabling unmatched automation, real-time benchmarking, and actionable insights, all reviewed by US-based accounting and finance experts. Backed by Sequoia, Index Ventures, Stripe, and Jeff Bezos, Pilot is defining the future of accounting for small businesses and the accountants who serve them. Learn more at https://pilot.com.
Media contact:
Elle Mullen for Pilot
Pilot@marketbridge.com
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