In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Vaibhav speaks with Riya Grover, co-founder and CEO of Sequence, an AI native revenue platform that unifies quoting, billing automation, and receivables so finance can finally run at the speed of sales.
Riya shares her journey from investment banking and Harvard Business School to exiting her first startup and then launching Sequence to fix one of the most neglected parts of the CFO stack, quote to cash and accounts receivable. She goes deep on what it really takes to find product market fit in a saturated software world, why AI native entrants can out execute incumbents, and how Sequence is using agents to automate complex finance workflows.
They also unpack Riya’s recent Series A fundraise, the story that resonated with investors, and her candid advice for founders building in a noisy, AI heavy, but more competitive than ever venture environment.
In this episode, we learn about:
- Why quote to cash and revenue operations have lagged behind AP and spend in automation
- How Sequence uses AI agents to read contracts, generate invoices, and support finance teams
- What investors really cared about in Sequence’s Series A, from logo quality to 190 % NRR
- How Riya stays close to customers while scaling a fast growing infra company
- Her advice for aspiring founders on standing out in today’s crowded AI landscape