- Helsinki-based CloEE raised a ~US$600k (≈€520k) pre-seed round led by angel Miro Vertanen and Innovestor Angel Co-fund, joined by Cariplo Iniziative and FiBAN members.
- The AI platform targets discrete manufacturers to cut downtime and energy use, with deployments across the Nordics, Italy, and the U.S.
- CloEE reports pilots delivering up to €867k annual revenue uplift, ~30% lower energy consumption, and ~95% fewer emergency outages with ~two-week rollouts.
- Next milestones are scaling enterprise sales to 20 recurring customers in 2025 while differentiating against incumbents as it expands toward AI-agent-led replacements for legacy industrial software.
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CloEE’s pre-seed funding round of ~US$600,000 (equivalently ~€520,000) in June 2025 provides the company with sufficient early capital to extend its product development, international expansion, and scale pilot programs. The investor group (Miro Vertanen, Innovestor Angel Co-fund, Cariplo Iniziative, FiBAN angels) suggests strong credibility and local ecosystem support.
Operationally, CloEE is targeting clear, high-impact levers: boosting Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), reducing downtime, minimizing emergency outages, and reducing energy consumption. Reported pilot results—30% energy savings, 95% fewer emergency outages, significant revenue uplift—are compelling if validated across regular customers.
On go-to-market strategy, expanding into the U.S., Italy, and scaling existing customer relationships are logical moves, yet carry execution risk. Securing 20 recurring customers in 2025 is a meaningful milestone at this stage. The intention to push into AI agents and possibly replace traditional industrial software suggests an ambitious roadmap that may require further capital or partnerships.
From a competitive angle, CloEE faces both established industrial software players and newer AI/IoT startups. Product differentiators—plug-and-play implementation, offline/off-grid or cloud/on-premise deployments, rapid deployment timeline (≈ two weeks), multilingual support—could help. Yet customers will likely evaluate reliability, integration depth, domain expertise, trust, and ongoing support. Maintaining high reliability while scaling will be a test.
Financially, the size of the raise is modest; sufficient to get through early pilots, product enhancements, and initial sales, but likely insufficient for large scale U.S expansion or deep AI agent R&D without further funding. The upcoming customer base goal and potential follow-on round will matter for valuation, dilution, and strategic positioning.
Supporting Notes
- CloEE raised a pre-seed financing round of US$600,000 (≈€520,000) in June 2025.
- The round was led by angel investor Miro Vertanen and the Innovestor Angel Co-Fund; with participation from Cariplo Iniziative and Finnish Business Angels Network members.
- Key markets targeted are the Nordics, Italy, and the United States; use of funds includes scaling existing customer deployments and piloting new U.S. deployments.
- Pilot results claimed include up to €867,000 in annual revenue growth, 30% reduction in energy use, and 95% reduction in emergency outages.
- The solution is designed for discrete manufacturing; connects to equipment, MES, ERP systems; offers deployment on-premise, cloud, or offline; multilingual capabilities.
- CloEE aims to secure its first 20 recurring customers in 2025, and later develop AI-agent features that could replace traditional, heavy industrial platforms.
- The global AI in manufacturing market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 44% from 2024 baseline (~€5–6 billion) to >€199–230 billion by 2034.