Finland’s NestAI lands €100M, partners with Nokia to build AI for defense applications

Finnish startup NestAI has raised €100 cardinal (about $115 million) successful a backing circular led by Finland’s sovereign fund, Tesi, and hardware elephantine Nokia to physique AI products for usage successful unmanned vehicles, autonomous operations, and bid and power platforms.

NestAI has besides struck a partnership with Nokia to physique AI products for defence applications and make “physical AI,” which involves utilizing ample connection models and related exertion for robotics and different real-world applications.

The backing volition assistance NestAI physique “Europe’s starring carnal AI lab,” co-founder Peter Sarlin said astatine the Slush 2025 exertion league successful Helsinki. 

Physical AI has been a increasing probe tract some for Big Tech and startups, and NestAI’s backing circular shows there’s abstraction for European companies to make homegrown solutions to code the continent’s needs — which person leaned towards defence applications owed to prolonged Ukraine-Russia war. Last month, the startup announced it would support the Finnish Defense Forces successful adopting AI.

This absorption connected sovereignty whitethorn explicate wherefore NestAI has been successful stealth truthful far, but it is present gathering successful public, supported by Sarlin, who has been backing the task for the past fewer months done his household office, PostScriptum.

“In enactment with PostScriptum’s mission, NestAI has from the commencement acceptable retired to go Europe’s starring carnal AI laboratory to thrust technological sovereignty,” Sarlin told TechCrunch. “This concern besides marks an important measurement successful securing Europe’s defence capabilities and sovereignty.”

After selling AI startup Silo AI to AMD for $665 million past year, Sarlin has been progressive arsenic a philanthropist and investor, backing startups similar Legora and Lovable. While he’s gathering NestAI, his time occupation is inactive astatine AMD, and helium volition lone enactment arsenic the startup’s chairman, not its CEO.

NestAI doesn’t person a CEO yet, but its increasing squad has attracted endowment with acquisition successful AI probe and hardware projects that overlap with defense. A important fig of its unit formerly worked for Intel, portion others were formerly employed by the likes of Kongsberg, Palantir and Saab.