Five new European AI startups worth knowing (October 2026)
From sales admin to public tenders and food safety: five young AI companies from Stockholm, Milan, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Brussels that raised money in September 2026.
Five young European AI startups raised money in September 2026: Spiich (Stockholm), Cato (Milan), Zero (Helsinki), Duqu (Amsterdam) and Backbone (Brussels). Each one uses AI to take a specific, tedious job off people's hands, from CRM updates to tender paperwork. Here is what they do, who they are for and what is new, based on public announcements.
Spiich: AI that does the admin for sales teams
Spiich, based in Stockholm, builds AI agents that handle the administrative side of B2B sales: prospecting, meeting preparation, CRM updates and follow-ups, so sales people can spend their time with customers. On 23 September 2026 it announced a 3 million euro seed round led by Ugly Duckling Ventures, with Alliance VC, Cherry Ventures and Ampli Ventures. The company was founded by Johan Torssell and Dennis Hadzialic. Website: spiich.ai. Source: EU-Startups.
Cato: AI for finding and winning public tenders
Cato, from Milan, helps companies find, analyse and win public sector tenders. Its platform tracks tender sources, pulls out the requirements, flags inconsistencies in documents and pre-fills parts of a bid. Customers range from small businesses to large companies in medical devices, construction, IT and services. Cato raised a 6 million euro seed round led by Keen Venture Partners, announced on 7 September 2026, bringing its total funding to 7.6 million euro since it was founded in 2025. Website: get-cato.com. Source: EU-Startups.
Zero: an AI-first replacement for the CRM
Zero, based in Helsinki, is building what it calls a go-to-market operating system: autonomous agents that build prospect lists, run outbound outreach and watch customer health, replacing a stack of separate CRM and prospecting tools. It raised 8.93 million euro in seed funding led by Primary Venture Partners, announced on 15 September 2026. The founders, Tuomo Riekki and Santtu Koivumäki, both come from Smartly.io. Website: zero.inc. Source: EU-Startups.
Duqu: getting paid for invoices within a day
Duqu, from Amsterdam, advances money to businesses against their outstanding B2B invoices within 24 hours, so they do not have to wait weeks to get paid. It also offers its AI underwriting engine as a white-label product for banks, lenders and leasing companies. Duqu raised a 1.5 million euro pre-seed round from Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures, reported on 25 September 2026. Website: duqu.ai. Source: Startups Magazine.
Backbone: an AI operating system for food quality teams
Backbone, based in Brussels, automates quality work for food companies by connecting supplier tracking, document control, incident management and compliance analysis in one system. It serves the whole chain, from raw material suppliers to producers, packaging companies and distributors. Backbone raised a 4 million euro pre-seed round led by Pitchdrive, announced on 3 September 2026. It was founded by Louis Opsomer, Siska Lannoo and Julien Steel. Website: usebackbone.ai. Source: EU-Startups.
What these five have in common
None of them sells AI for its own sake. Each picks one slow, document-heavy job (sales admin, tender bids, CRM upkeep, invoice financing, food compliance) and automates a large part of it for a clearly defined customer. That focus is a pattern worth noticing if you are building something similar.
More new companies from the region: New AI startups in the Netherlands (2026) and Benelux startups that raised money in September 2026.
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