{ "meta": { "title": "Just Founded", "tagline": "Dealroom's pick of the most exciting newly founded startups.", "cadence": "weekly", "edition": "Week of 26 May 2026", "updated": "2026-05-31", "source": "Dealroom next-gen API + editorial curation", "sample": false, "defaultFilter": "pre-funding", "counts": { "pre-funding": 9, "funded": 5 }, "note": "Real newly founded companies from the Dealroom next-gen API (api-next.beta.dealroom.co), curated and written up editorially. Founder photos and company logos are from Dealroom; website visuals are live screenshots. Funding amounts are shown only where disclosed.", "agent": { "feedUrl": "https://dealroom.co/data/just-founded.json", "pageUrl": "https://dealroom.co/just-founded/", "forAgents": "Each item carries a ready-to-post `social.post` plus a one-line `social.hook`, a `screenshot` (website visual), a company `logo` and `founders[].photo`. Filter on `fundingStatus` (pre-funding | funded). Pair with /api/create-chart for a branded visual and post via the social pipeline. See /for-agents." } }, "startups": [ { "name": "FlipBook", "slug": "flipbook", "website": "https://flipbook.page", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/flipbook", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "Developer tools" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "San Francisco, United States", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/flipbook.jpg", "logo": "", "tagline": "AI that streams pixels directly to your screen — no HTML, no layout engine, no code", "story": { "building": "An AI visual interface that renders software by streaming pixels straight to the screen — no HTML, no CSS, no layout engine in between.", "whyNow": "As generative models get fast enough to paint an interface in real time, the decades-old browser rendering stack suddenly looks like something you could skip entirely.", "backstory": "Founded in San Francisco in 2026 by Drew Carr and Eddie Jiao, the company is built around a deliberately contrarian premise: that the page itself no longer needs to be made of markup.", "whyThisTeam": "A focused two-person founding team taking on one of the most load-bearing assumptions in software — how interfaces are drawn at all." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Drew Carr", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/24/b4e2e741e5c2b8af58227c0406107f65.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/drew_carr", "worked": [ "Patina Systems", "Apple" ], "studied": [], "foundedPrev": [] }, { "name": "Eddie Jiao", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/24/a8e1299f7bda75c377206c39d9638b3f.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/eddie_jiao", "worked": [ "Humane", "Slack", "Donut" ], "studied": [ "Brown University" ], "foundedPrev": [ "Common Knowledge" ] } ], "editorNote": "The most contrarian idea on this week's list. If even part of it works, a lot of received wisdom about how the web is built goes out the window — which is exactly why it's worth watching early.", "social": { "hook": "What if your screen had no HTML behind it — just an AI streaming pixels?", "post": "FlipBook just launched in San Francisco with one of the boldest ideas we've seen this week. 🎛️\n\nEvery app you use is built from HTML, CSS and a layout engine. FlipBook's bet: skip all of it. Their AI streams pixels directly to your screen — no markup, no rendering stack.\n\nWhy now? Generative models are finally fast enough to draw an interface in real time, which makes the browser's decades-old rendering pipeline look optional.\n\nJust founded · still pre-funding · two founders questioning the most basic assumption of the web.\n\nContrarian, early, and very much one to watch. 📍\n\n#AI #devtools #startups" }, "region": "USA" }, { "name": "Blaise", "slug": "blaise", "website": "https://blaise.new", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/blaise_3", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "GovTech" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Stockholms kommun, Sweden", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/blaise.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/23/fb29e1b99dce8598c2f125448053f1a9.jpg", "tagline": "AI-powered public consultation and citizen engagement platform.", "story": { "building": "An AI platform for public consultation and citizen engagement — software meant to modernise how governments gather and make sense of public input.", "whyNow": "Democratic institutions are under pressure to consult faster and at scale, just as language models become good enough to read and summarise thousands of citizen responses.", "backstory": "Blaise is the product of Swedish Superintelligence Inc., an applied research lab based in Stockholm with a satellite presence in San Francisco, founded by Alexander Wikström and Elliot Evertsson Norrevik.", "whyThisTeam": "A research-lab-born company applying frontier AI to a famously un-sexy but high-stakes domain — the machinery of democratic process." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Alexander Wikström", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/23/e8300aa665e43a6c28bb8c081ad92576.jpg", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/alexander_wikstr_m_2", "worked": [ "Lovable", "Forloop.ai" ], "studied": [], "foundedPrev": [ "Darwin" ] }, { "name": "Elliot Evertsson Norrevik", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2025/06/17/cda55185f2837972e121d66ead5b58d0.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/elliot_evertsson_norrevik", "worked": [ "Aprisium" ], "studied": [], "foundedPrev": [ "Roster AI", "Finna" ] } ], "editorNote": "Civic tech rarely makes 'most exciting' lists, which is part of why this one caught our eye. Applying serious AI to public consultation is an under-served, genuinely useful niche.", "social": { "hook": "Frontier AI, pointed at one of democracy's dullest, most important problems: public consultation.", "post": "Blaise just launched out of Stockholm with a refreshingly unglamorous mission: fix public consultation. 🗳️\n\nGovernments are under growing pressure to consult citizens faster and at scale — right as AI becomes capable of reading and making sense of thousands of responses at once.\n\nBlaise, built by applied research lab Swedish Superintelligence Inc., is an AI platform for citizen engagement and public consultation.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Stockholm, with a foot in San Francisco.\n\nCivic tech doesn't usually make 'most exciting' lists. This one earned it. 📍\n\n#AI #govtech #startups" }, "region": "Europe" }, { "name": "urvo", "slug": "urvo", "website": "https://www.urvo.io", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/urvo", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "Conversational AI" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/urvo.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/19/04537be2215545c472a86ead0115fd5e.jpg", "tagline": "Conversational AI for Businesses", "story": { "building": "Conversational AI agents that handle the business calls, follow-ups and support requests that otherwise slip through the cracks.", "whyNow": "Voice agents have crossed the quality threshold where they can credibly answer a phone, qualify a lead and resolve a request — work that used to need a human on the line.", "backstory": "Founded in 2026 by Ali Rafay and Muhammad Bilal around a simple, painful observation: businesses quietly bleed time and money on calls that never get answered and leads that never get a reply.", "whyThisTeam": "A two-person team going after a concrete, measurable pain — missed calls and dropped follow-ups — rather than a vague 'AI for everything' pitch." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Ali Rafay", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/15/e38b95dfdace47841ead50cdf921891d.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/ali_rafay", "worked": [ "Upwork" ], "studied": [ "Vcomsats" ], "foundedPrev": [] }, { "name": "Muhammad Bilal", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/15/7674938c652e08312fcc610875646f7c.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/muhammad_bilal_12", "worked": [], "studied": [ "COMSATS Institute of Information Technology" ], "foundedPrev": [] } ], "editorNote": "Not the flashiest category, but the wedge is sharp and the pain is real. The bar is execution: voice agents live or die on whether they actually handle the awkward calls.", "social": { "hook": "Every missed call is a lost customer. urvo's AI agents pick up the ones your team can't.", "post": "urvo just launched to fix a problem every business has but few talk about: the calls, leads and support requests that quietly fall through the cracks. 📞\n\nTheir conversational AI agents answer the phone, follow up on leads and handle support — the work that gets dropped when a team is stretched.\n\nWhy now? Voice AI has finally crossed the quality line where it can credibly handle a real conversation.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · two founders, one very concrete problem.\n\n#AI #automation #startups" }, "region": "" }, { "name": "VoltSight AI", "slug": "voltsight-ai", "website": "http://voltsightai.com", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/voltsight_ai", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "Energy", "AI" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Mölndals kommun, Sweden", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/voltsight-ai.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/03/cad53e3b6049d14b953c6dc3bf5520a9.png", "tagline": "AI-powered diagnostics for EV and energy storage batteries.", "story": { "building": "AI battery-health diagnostics for EV fleets and energy-storage systems — software that scores state-of-health, predicts degradation and tunes performance.", "whyNow": "As EV fleets and grid-scale storage multiply, the batteries inside them become a huge, expensive asset class that almost nobody can yet monitor or value precisely.", "backstory": "Founded in 2026 in Mölndal, Sweden by Xiaolei Bian, the company targets the unglamorous-but-critical question of how healthy a battery really is.", "whyThisTeam": "A focused founder going deep on battery diagnostics at exactly the moment the installed base of batteries is exploding." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Xiaolei Bian", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/04/e0d50ba61d23dfb6fbbc46776ef97bd7.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/xiaolei_bian", "worked": [], "studied": [ "KTH Royal Institute of Technology" ], "foundedPrev": [] } ], "editorNote": "A picks-and-shovels play on electrification: not the cars or the cells, but knowing what state they're in. Quietly essential infrastructure if it works.", "social": { "hook": "EVs and grid storage are everywhere. Knowing how healthy those batteries are? Almost nobody can — yet.", "post": "VoltSight AI just launched out of Sweden to answer a question worth billions: how healthy is that battery, really? 🔋\n\nAs EV fleets and grid-scale storage multiply, the batteries inside them become a massive, expensive asset — one that's surprisingly hard to monitor or value.\n\nVoltSight's AI scores battery state-of-health, predicts degradation and optimises performance for fleets and storage operators.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Mölndal, Sweden.\n\nA picks-and-shovels bet on electrification. 📍\n\n#climatetech #energy #AI" }, "region": "Europe" }, { "name": "DiPOLE Systems", "slug": "dipole-systems", "website": "https://www.dipolesystems.com/", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/dipole_systems", "fundingStatus": "funded", "sector": [ "Deep Tech", "Lasers" ], "heat": "high-profile", "founded": "2026", "location": "Oxford, United Kingdom", "stage": "", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/dipole-systems.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/11/68ddbb32b56c6f1de6ee9a94dd5cfe78.jpg", "tagline": "High-energy, high-repetition-rate diode-pumped laser systems.", "story": { "building": "High-energy, high-repetition-rate diode-pumped solid-state laser systems, sold into manufacturing, defence, security and energy.", "whyNow": "Industry and defence are reaching for ever more powerful, reliable lasers, and the underlying diode-pumped technology has matured from lab apparatus into something commercialisable.", "backstory": "DiPOLE Systems is a spin-out from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), commercialising laser technology developed in national research labs, led by Stephen Blake and Thomas Butcher.", "whyThisTeam": "A genuine deep-tech spin-out: founders carrying laser systems out of a national lab and into the manufacturing, defence and energy markets that need them." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Stephen Blake", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/12/3fcd859d40e246b908f9fc42a4533a1a.jpg", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/stephen_blake_2", "worked": [ "Boeing", "Bombardier" ], "studied": [ "The Open University" ], "foundedPrev": [] }, { "name": "Thomas Butcher", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/11/a008fd25ee748bc0427244736f411793.jpg", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/thomas_butcher_1", "worked": [ "Covesion" ], "studied": [ "University of Southampton" ], "foundedPrev": [] } ], "editorNote": "Real hard tech with a credible origin — an STFC spin-out, not a deck. The opportunity and the execution risk are both large; that's the nature of high-energy lasers.", "social": { "hook": "High-energy lasers, spun out of a UK national lab and pointed at industry and defence.", "post": "DiPOLE Systems just launched out of Oxford — and it's the real deep-tech deal. 🔬\n\nThe company commercialises high-energy, high-repetition-rate diode-pumped lasers for manufacturing, defence, security and energy. It's a spin-out from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council, carrying technology from national research labs into industry.\n\nJust founded · funded · Oxford, UK.\n\nHard tech with a credible origin story — exactly the kind of company that's easy to miss and hard to replicate. 📍\n\n#deeptech #lasers #startups" }, "region": "Europe" }, { "name": "Schematik", "slug": "schematik", "website": "https://schematik.io/", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/schematik", "fundingStatus": "funded", "sector": [ "AI", "Hardware" ], "heat": "high-profile", "founded": "2026", "location": "Amsterdam, Netherlands", "stage": "", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/schematik.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/19/20f869f37c5a4c2c2a57b4239896390e.jpg", "tagline": "AI-native development environment for building hardware.", "story": { "building": "An AI-native development environment for building hardware — aiming to make designing physical products feel closer to writing software.", "whyNow": "Software has decades of tooling that makes building fast; hardware design is still slow and specialist. AI is the first credible lever to close that gap.", "backstory": "Founded in 2026 in Amsterdam by Samuel Beek, Schematik takes the 'AI-native IDE' idea that's transforming software and points it at the much harder world of physical hardware.", "whyThisTeam": "Applying the AI-coding-assistant playbook to hardware — a domain where good tooling is scarce and the productivity upside is enormous." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Samuel Beek", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/20/8d3c070183784e32a45c595808fc95dd.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/samuel_beek", "worked": [ "VEED.IO", "WeTransfer", "Piktochart" ], "studied": [ "Stanford University Graduate School of Business" ], "foundedPrev": [] } ], "editorNote": "If the AI-IDE wave is real for software, hardware is the obvious, much harder next frontier. Ambitious — and the difficulty is the moat.", "social": { "hook": "AI turned software development upside down. Schematik wants to do the same for building hardware.", "post": "Schematik just launched in Amsterdam with a big ambition: make building hardware feel like writing software. ⚙️\n\nSoftware has decades of tooling that makes shipping fast. Hardware design is still slow and specialist. Schematik is building an AI-native development environment to close that gap.\n\nJust founded · funded · Amsterdam.\n\nThe AI-IDE wave reshaped software. Hardware is the harder, more valuable next frontier — and that difficulty is the moat. 📍\n\n#AI #hardware #deeptech" }, "region": "Europe" }, { "name": "Standard Signal", "slug": "standard-signal", "website": "http://standardsignal.com", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/standard_signal", "fundingStatus": "funded", "sector": [ "Fintech", "AI" ], "heat": "high-profile", "founded": "2026", "location": "New York City, United States", "stage": "", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "/just-founded/shots/standard-signal.jpg", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/07/e4d4367defa5aa6b311e53b56ff4d3e8.png", "tagline": "The first hedge fund where AI researches and executes every trade", "story": { "building": "A hedge fund where artificial intelligence researches and executes every trade — the investment process run end-to-end by AI rather than analysts.", "whyNow": "Models can now read filings, news and markets and act on them at a speed and breadth no human desk can match — making a fully AI-run fund newly plausible.", "backstory": "Founded in 2026 in New York by Michael Royzen, Standard Signal is built on a stark premise: that the entire research-to-execution loop of a hedge fund can be handed to AI.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder making an unusually clean, falsifiable bet — not 'AI-assisted' investing, but AI doing the whole job — in the most results-driven arena there is." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Michael Royzen", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/17/66665d0fa53703a277caf78e8022ab96.jpeg", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/michael_royzen", "worked": [ "Slife Labs", "Lyft", "Cloudflare" ], "studied": [ "University of Texas at Austin" ], "foundedPrev": [ "Phind", "SmartLens" ] } ], "editorNote": "The boldest claim on the list, and the most testable: a fund where AI does everything either works or it doesn't. We'll be watching the track record, not the pitch.", "social": { "hook": "Not AI-assisted investing. A hedge fund where the AI researches and places every single trade.", "post": "Standard Signal just launched in New York with the most testable claim on this week's list: a hedge fund where AI researches and executes every trade. 📈\n\nNot 'AI-assisted'. The whole research-to-execution loop, run by models that can read filings, news and markets at a speed no human desk can match.\n\nJust founded · funded · New York City.\n\nThe beauty of this one is that it's falsifiable — a fully AI-run fund either delivers or it doesn't. We'll watch the track record. 📍\n\n#fintech #AI #hedgefund" }, "region": "USA" }, { "name": "Student Verse", "slug": "student-verse", "website": "https://Studentverse.ae", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/student_verse", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "Fintech", "Consumer" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Dubai, United Arab Emirates", "region": "MENA", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/22/4041a045fab23d2df8e691d0f0d4a5a8.png", "tagline": "Financial and lifestyle infrastructure for the UAE's student economy.", "story": { "building": "A financial and lifestyle \"operating system\" for university students in the UAE — a closed-loop ecosystem connecting Gen-Z students with payments, perks and services.", "whyNow": "The Gulf is investing heavily in its young population, and students are an underbanked, high-growth demographic that incumbent finance largely ignores.", "backstory": "Founded in Dubai by Sanjar Ghazanfar (University of Wollongong, Dubai) to serve the student demographic he came from.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder building for the exact community he belongs to — close to the customer in a market global fintechs underserve." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Sanjar Ghazanfar", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [], "studied": [ "University of Wollongong - Dubai Campus" ], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/23/354aa50bc0a9d7676c397153494bb975.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/sanjar_ghazanfar" } ], "editorNote": "Region-specific fintech with a clear wedge. Early, but the focus is sharp.", "social": { "hook": "A financial OS built for the UAE's Gen-Z students.", "post": "Student Verse just launched in Dubai. 🎓\n\nFinancial and lifestyle infrastructure for the UAE's student economy — a closed-loop ecosystem for an underbanked, high-growth demographic.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Dubai.\n\n#fintech #MENA #startups" } }, { "name": "OFF/BEAT", "slug": "off-beat", "website": "https://offbeatkartakyahai.xyz", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/off_beat_1", "fundingStatus": "funded", "sector": [ "AI", "Venture studio" ], "heat": "high-profile", "founded": "2026", "location": "New Delhi, India", "region": "Asia", "stage": "", "raised": "$11M", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/08/95ab056f31c869942a7e6508100aaf87.png", "tagline": "A venture studio building the next wave of early-stage AI companies.", "story": { "building": "A venture studio that incubates and backs early-stage, AI-focused startups — bringing operating muscle and capital to founders from day zero.", "whyNow": "India's consumer-tech talent pool is now deep enough to spin out AI companies at pace, and a studio model lets a proven operator compound across many bets.", "backstory": "Launched in New Delhi in 2026 by Aman Gupta — the co-founder of consumer-electronics giant boAt — applying a decade of brand- and company-building to a portfolio model.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder who has already built a category-defining consumer brand (boAt) and sat on both sides of the table as an angel — exactly the profile a venture studio lives on." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Aman Gupta", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "HARMAN International", "KPMG", "Citibank" ], "studied": [ "Indian School of Business" ], "foundedPrev": [ "BoAt", "Foodport" ], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/09/2c0f391921366da8d037ca44f92eab60.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/aman_gupta" } ], "editorNote": "A high-profile operator turning brand-building reps into a studio. Watch whether the boAt playbook transfers to AI.", "social": { "hook": "The boAt co-founder is now running a venture studio for AI startups.", "post": "OFF/BEAT just launched in New Delhi. 🎯\n\nVenture studio for early-stage, AI-focused companies — founded by Aman Gupta, co-founder of consumer-electronics giant boAt.\n\nIndia's AI talent is deep enough to spin out companies at pace; a studio lets a proven operator compound across many bets.\n\nJust founded · funded · New Delhi.\n\n#AI #venturestudio #startups" } }, { "name": "IvoryOS", "slug": "ivoryos", "website": "http://ivoryos.ai", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/ivoryos", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "Robotics", "Science" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Vancouver, Canada", "region": "Canada", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/03/6961b561188a832382e7111628fd8ef6.png", "tagline": "An open-core orchestrator for AI-driven scientific experiments.", "story": { "building": "An open-core software layer that orchestrates self-driving labs — letting AI plan, run and track physical science experiments on automated equipment.", "whyNow": "\"Self-driving labs\" are moving from academic demos to real R&D, and they need an orchestration layer the way data pipelines needed Airflow.", "backstory": "Spun out of the Hein Lab at the University of British Columbia by Ivory Zhang, turning lab-automation research into a product.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder building from inside the research that needs it — with prior time at a lab-automation company (Telescope Innovations) and Canada's National Research Council." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Ivory Zhang", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "Telescope Innovations", "National Research Council Canada" ], "studied": [ "Carleton University" ], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/04/4c34c04ca5236e01a68d74c5a1539bff.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/ivory_zhang" } ], "editorNote": "Picks-and-shovels for self-driving labs. Niche today, potentially foundational.", "social": { "hook": "The orchestration layer for AI-run science labs.", "post": "IvoryOS just launched out of Vancouver. 🔬\n\nAn open-core orchestrator for self-driving labs — letting AI plan, run and track real science experiments on automated equipment.\n\nSpun out of UBC's Hein Lab.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Vancouver.\n\n#deeptech #robotics #science" } }, { "name": "Clarivio", "slug": "clarivio", "website": "http://clarivio.it", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/clarivio", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "Enterprise" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Milan, Italy", "region": "Europe", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/03/66ef7f77f8574bdff46bbf1788aab772.png", "tagline": "A private, on-premise AI platform for secure document analysis.", "story": { "building": "A private AI platform for SMEs to analyse sensitive documents on-premise — the compliance-safe alternative to sending confidential files to a cloud LLM.", "whyNow": "Every SME wants AI on its documents but can't risk the data leaving; on-prem, private deployments are the unlock for regulated and cautious buyers.", "backstory": "Founded in Milan by Fabrizio Dodaro (Bocconi), with consulting experience at PwC and Deloitte.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder from the advisory world (PwC, Deloitte; Bocconi) who understands exactly the compliance anxieties his SME buyers have." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Fabrizio Dodaro", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "PwC", "Deloitte" ], "studied": [ "Bocconi University" ], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/04/61d10f923fc115d3478c0704690509c4.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/fabrizio_dodaro" } ], "editorNote": "Privacy-first AI for SMEs is an under-served niche. The on-prem angle is the differentiator.", "social": { "hook": "Private, on-prem AI for the documents SMEs can't put in the cloud.", "post": "Clarivio just launched in Milan. 📄\n\nA private, on-premise AI platform for SMEs to analyse sensitive documents — without sending confidential files to a cloud LLM.\n\nFounder Fabrizio Dodaro brings PwC and Deloitte experience.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Milan.\n\n#AI #enterprise #privacy" } }, { "name": "Plantryx", "slug": "plantryx", "website": "http://plantryx.com", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/plantryx", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "Supply chain" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Foster City, United States", "region": "USA", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/03/26/b23ed2a4b15079ba46b1b11ea4a32b4a.png", "tagline": "An AI-native platform for supply-chain planning and forecasting.", "story": { "building": "An AI-native supply-chain platform for demand forecasting, supply planning and end-to-end resilience — replacing the spreadsheets most teams still run on.", "whyNow": "Post-shock supply chains demand faster, probabilistic planning, and AI can now model demand and disruption far better than legacy MRP tools.", "backstory": "Founded in the Bay Area by Majd Kharfan (MIT), who worked on operations and commerce at Nike and Heyday.", "whyThisTeam": "An MIT-trained founder with hands-on operations experience (Nike, Heyday) building for a problem he's lived." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Majd Kharfan", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "Heyday", "Nike", "AECOM Technology" ], "studied": [ "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" ], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/03/27/4ec744317a338a0e27c230b448d670b8.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/majd_kharfan" } ], "editorNote": "Crowded category, but AI-native planning is a real shift. Execution will decide it.", "social": { "hook": "AI-native supply-chain planning, from an MIT + Nike operator.", "post": "Plantryx just launched in the Bay Area. 📦\n\nAn AI-native platform for demand forecasting and supply planning — replacing the spreadsheets most teams still run on.\n\nFounder Majd Kharfan brings MIT plus operations experience at Nike and Heyday.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Foster City.\n\n#AI #supplychain #startups" } }, { "name": "Nouscope AI", "slug": "nouscope-ai", "website": "http://nouscope.ai", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/nouscope_ai", "fundingStatus": "pre-funding", "sector": [ "AI", "Governance" ], "heat": "under-the-radar", "founded": "2026", "location": "Gold Coast, Australia", "region": "Oceania", "stage": "Pre-funding", "raised": "", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/03/25/a76b7806639ce26fada905195adc5a9c.png", "tagline": "A governed execution layer for traceable, auditable AI reasoning.", "story": { "building": "A control plane that sits between AI models and regulated institutions — making AI reasoning traceable and auditable so it can be used where liability matters.", "whyNow": "Regulated sectors want AI but need an audit trail; a governance layer between the model and the institution is becoming a prerequisite, not a nice-to-have.", "backstory": "Founded on the Gold Coast by James Deck, who previously built Squizify and worked with the Queensland Government.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder with public-sector and startup experience targeting exactly the regulated buyers who need governed AI." }, "founders": [ { "name": "James Deck", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "Squizify", "Queensland Government" ], "studied": [], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/03/26/01d2de5bd30f20a33240d24bbfe78347.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/james_deck_1" } ], "editorNote": "AI governance is crowded with talk; a concrete execution layer is rarer. One to watch from Australia.", "social": { "hook": "The audit layer that lets regulated institutions actually use AI.", "post": "Nouscope AI just launched on the Gold Coast. 🛡️\n\nA governed execution layer for traceable, auditable AI reasoning — the control plane between AI models and regulated institutions.\n\nJust founded · pre-funding · Australia.\n\n#AI #governance #startups" } }, { "name": "Andustry", "slug": "andustry", "website": "http://andustry.com", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/companies/andustry", "fundingStatus": "funded", "sector": [ "AI", "Industrials" ], "heat": "high-profile", "founded": "2026", "location": "Munich, Germany", "region": "Europe", "stage": "", "raised": "$125K", "leadInvestors": [], "screenshot": "", "logo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/03/25/08a27215b5dfc531f2709d0c3efaa7d6.png", "tagline": "An AI platform for sourcing and selling industrial products.", "story": { "building": "An AI platform that streamlines industrial sourcing and fulfilment — matching manufacturers and plants with qualified suppliers and handling the messy procurement in between.", "whyNow": "Industrial supply chains are being re-shored and digitised at once, and AI can finally parse the unstructured specs and catalogues that make B2B sourcing so slow.", "backstory": "Founded in Munich by Johann Stürken, who brings aerospace and consulting pedigree — Airbus, Rolls-Royce and McKinsey — to one of the least-digitised corners of B2B.", "whyThisTeam": "A founder with deep industrial and strategy experience (Airbus, Rolls-Royce, McKinsey; Cambridge, TU Munich) going after a domain where that context is the moat." }, "founders": [ { "name": "Johann Stürken", "role": "", "prevBackground": "", "worked": [ "Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA)", "McKinsey", "e.SAT" ], "studied": [ "University of Cambridge" ], "foundedPrev": [], "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dealroom-images-production/2026/04/24/0f78e5050006d085298d95bf8f131580.png", "dealroomUrl": "https://app.dealroom.co/people/f/johann_st_rken" } ], "editorNote": "Unsexy, large, and exactly the kind of B2B that AI is suited to. The founder pedigree is the standout.", "social": { "hook": "Ex-Airbus, Rolls-Royce and McKinsey — now building the AI layer for industrial sourcing.", "post": "Andustry just launched in Munich. ⚙️\n\nAn AI platform for sourcing and selling industrial products — matching manufacturers with qualified suppliers and handling the procurement mess in between.\n\nFounder Johann Stürken brings Airbus, Rolls-Royce and McKinsey experience to one of B2B's least-digitised corners.\n\nJust founded · funded · Munich.\n\n#AI #industrials #b2b" } } ] }