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Google Recognizes Dallas Entrepreneur for Bookkeeping Software

Google Recognizes Dallas Entrepreneur for Bookkeeping Software
Duke.ai Founder Marcus Cooksey | Image by Dallas Business Journal

A Dallas entrepreneur was recognized by Google for his role in developing a software platform that simplifies business accounting in the trucking industry.

Google for Startups elected to recognize and award multiple North Texas start-ups as part of the tech giant’s “Black Founders Fund.” For his trucking software accomplishments, Marcus Cooksey was awarded $100,000.

Cooksey is the founder and creator of Duke.ai, an automated accounting software designed to manage bookkeeping and tax filing for trucking businesses.

The software is specifically geared toward the trucking industry and is used to track the business’ profits, taxes, International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), and more, according to the company.

Cooksey created Duke.ai in 2019 for his trucking company LUI Transport following a frustrating experience with the available bookkeeping software at the time, most of which he found to be error-prone and not conducive to his owner-operator trucking business needs.

“I was running a trucking business and found a lot of inaccuracies” in the software programs, said Cooksey.

After consistent growth, Cooksey’s software reached $1 million in revenue last year and expects to surpass $2 million in revenue in 2022. Duke.ai has grown to 25 employees and has roughly 7,000 users across 10 trucking companies, said Cooksey.

“I was overwhelmed,” he said of receiving the honor from Google. “Often, most of the hard work goes unnoticed. It’s not just the funding amount; it’s the support that helps accelerate growth and connects you to the right people.”

Another North Texas entrepreneur who received Google’s vote of confidence was Joseph Akintolayo, the founder of the plug-and-play banking software “Deposits.”

Entrepreneurs should heed two bits of advice, according to Cooksey.

First, “start earlier than I did,” he said. Cooksey worked for 13 years at Dallas-based Texas Instruments before becoming an entrepreneur.

Second, “you always underestimate the amount of work and money needed to be successful. Whatever you think it is, multiply that by three,” he concluded.

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