"Concourse transformed how we analyze our financial data in a deep tech environment. We now generate insights 2x faster while spending 90% less time on manual processes."

Justin Hammergren

Head of FP&A, Lightmatter

The Challenge

Fast and insightful financial reporting alongside rapid growth and R&D complexity

Forecast vs. Actuals analysis was consuming the finance team's time. With multiple departments, project categories, and R&D investments, understanding variances meant cross-referencing data across cost centers, analyzing multiple vendor relationships, and digging into detailed transaction-level information. It was slow, labor-intensive, and prone to error. "After our Series D raise, we were scaling faster than ever," Justin explains. "Our R&D operations are incredibly complex, and our financial analysis was stuck in spreadsheets and legacy software. We were spending days just trying to understand what happened, let alone why."

Vendor Consolidation Was Another Challenge

Lightmatter works with hundreds of specialized vendors for manufacturing, materials, and R&D equipment. Understanding patterns in spending, identifying duplication, and analyzing vendor relationships required hours of manual investigation.

Department Reporting and Flux Analysis Further Stretched the Team

Every month, over ten departments require detailed reports. Each account movement needed careful explanation, especially since R&D investments could shift multiple financial categories at once. Manual forecast versus actuals analysis could not provide the granularity leadership needed to make informed decisions. "We needed a way to scale our financial analysis with the business," Justin says. "Manual processes weren't going to keep up with how quickly we were growing and innovating."

Solution

Concourse AI Agents delivering financial intelligence and polished reports in minutes

Traditional financial reporting tools weren't sufficient to provide the level of insights and analysis that the Lightmatter team needed. Managing intricate vendor relationships, sophisticated R&D forecasting, and advanced variance analysis required automation capable of understanding both financial data and business context and flexible enough to adapt as the company scaled.

Why Concourse Fit Lightmatter's Financial Reporting Needs

Concourse's AI agents stood out for their ability to dig deep into transaction-level details, memo fields, and custom classifications, not just high-level summaries. For a hardware company with complex vendor relationships and rapidly evolving R&D operations, this analytical depth was exactly what the team needed.

From Setup to Strategic Intelligence in a Few Weeks

Results

2x more strategic insights, 12+ hours saved monthly thanks to Concourse AI Agents

The Concourse implementation at Lightmatter delivered both immediate operational improvements and strategic capabilities, enabling continued growth without proportional resource scaling. "Concourse really helped us rethink how we handle financial analysis," Justin explains. "Instead of spending time on manual tasks that slow down insight generation, we're excited about the insights Concourse can generate, and it helps us act faster and with more confidence."

Quantified Impact

Strategic Transformation

Faster access to actionable insights

Leadership now gains faster access to actionable insights, supporting better decision-making. Concourse enables analytical capabilities that allow the finance team to provide sophisticated vendor and department-level analysis while maintaining operational efficiency. "That freed-up time has been a game-changer," Justin notes. "We can finally focus on analysis that actually drives decisions rather than just compiling numbers."

By automating manual workflows and delivering deeper financial insights, Concourse has helped Lightmatter scale its finance operations without adding proportional resources, supporting both growth and smarter, faster decision-making.

"The biggest change wasn't just the time savings—it was regaining our analytical capacity. We went from digging through spreadsheets to thinking strategically about the business and making decisions with confidence."

Justin Hammergren

Head of FP&A, Lightmatter