European Startup Nexos.ai Secures €30M to Bridge Enterprise AI Security Gap

From Cybersecurity Titans to AI Governance Pioneers

The founders behind Nord Security, creators of the massively successful NordVPN, have turned their attention to what they see as the next major corporate vulnerability: artificial intelligence governance. Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, the Lithuanian entrepreneur duo who built a $3 billion cybersecurity company, have now secured €30 million in Series A funding for their new venture Nexos.ai – a platform designed to safely bridge the gap between enterprise teams and AI systems.

From Cybersecurity Titans to AI Governance Pioneers
The “Switzerland for LLMs” Approach
Rapid Funding Round Signals Market Urgency
Dual-Product Architecture for Comprehensive AI Governance
Strategic Focus and Expansion Plans
Proven Impact Within Portfolio Companies

The “Switzerland for LLMs” Approach

Okmanas describes the current corporate AI landscape as facing “the biggest corporate data leak” in the making, as employees increasingly upload sensitive information to large language models. Rather than advocating for AI bans that would stifle productivity, Nexos.ai positions itself as a neutral intermediary – what Okmanas calls a “Switzerland for LLMs.”

“Companies want AI productivity gains but fear the security consequences,” Okmanas explained. “Our platform sits between teams and AI tools, keeping data under corporate control while enabling the innovation businesses need.”, as our earlier report

Rapid Funding Round Signals Market Urgency

What’s particularly notable about this funding round is its timing – coming just months after an $8 million initial round and at a time when Nexos.ai wasn’t actively fundraising. The €30 million Series A was co-led by Index Ventures and Evantic Capital at a €300 million valuation, with participation from previous investors Creandum and Dig Ventures, plus angel backers including the CEOs of Datadog, Klarna, Supercell, and Wix., according to technological advances

The rapid investor interest underscores the critical nature of the problem Nexos.ai aims to solve. Evantic, the new venture firm launched by former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller, was particularly persistent in making the round happen despite the company‘s initial reluctance to fundraise.

Dual-Product Architecture for Comprehensive AI Governance

Nexos.ai’s platform consists of two main components designed to work in tandem:

AI Workspace: An intuitive interface that enables employees to safely interact with AI tools
AI Gateway: A developer-focused control layer handling security, cost management, and compliance oversight

The gateway approach addresses what Okmanas identifies as a key barrier to enterprise AI adoption: fragmentation. By providing a single access point to approximately 200 AI models while maintaining security and compliance standards, Nexos.ai aims to simplify the AI integration process that often overwhelms IT departments.

Strategic Focus and Expansion Plans

Currently conducting 50-60 demo calls weekly, Nexos.ai is initially targeting two key market segments: technology-savvy companies already using AI daily, and organizations in regulated industries concerned about governance and data sovereignty.

“Traditional businesses will have a lot of homework to do to convince their boards about AI adoption,” Okmanas noted. “We can help by making deployment easier and safer.”

The funding will accelerate several strategic initiatives, including expanded support for private models handling sensitive data and geographical expansion across Europe and North America. The European focus is particularly strategic given growing data sovereignty concerns that have begun opening doors at public institutions – a potential new market beyond the company’s enterprise focus.

Proven Impact Within Portfolio Companies

The founders identified the AI governance gap while overseeing the portfolio of Tesonet, their company that builds and invests in startups. This hands-on experience provided concrete evidence of AI’s potential when properly implemented.

At Hostinger, a web hosting provider within their portfolio, an AI assistant implementation dramatically reduced the need for human support. “That’s why we didn’t need to hire 500 people and saved €10 million this year alone,” Okmanas revealed, pointing to the tangible ROI that helps convince skeptical corporate boards.

With Tesonet portfolio companies and Bulgarian fintech unicorn Payhawk among its early customers, Nexos.ai is building on the founders’ established network while expanding to new markets. The company plans to grow its team to 100 people by its first anniversary, primarily in Europe where data protection concerns align perfectly with their value proposition.

As enterprises grapple with balancing AI innovation against security risks, Nexos.ai’s substantial funding and experienced leadership position them as a key player in defining how businesses safely harness artificial intelligence’s transformative potential.