In the realm of enterprise technology, many organizations view AI as either an unrealized promise or a looming security threat. However, the innovative efforts of Lithuania’s prominent entrepreneur duo aim to bridge that gap, attracting both attention and investment.
Just months after Nexos.ai emerged from stealth mode with an $8 million funding round led by Index Ventures, co-founders Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas have successfully secured a €30 million Series A (around $35 million) for their latest venture. This platform is designed to facilitate the secure adoption of AI tools by acting as an intermediary between employees and AI systems.
According to Okmanas, we are on the brink of “the biggest corporate data leak” as employees increasingly upload sensitive information to large language models (LLMs). Instead of imposing an outright ban on AI usage, he envisions Nexos.ai as a “Switzerland for LLMs,” offering a neutral zone that maintains data integrity while empowering companies to reap productivity benefits. By serving as a buffer between workforce and AI tools, Nexos.ai aims to control data access without stifling innovation.
The expertise of these seasoned founders tackling this critical enterprise challenge explains the rapid success of their funding initiative. Industry leaders Index Ventures and Evantic Capital co-led the latest round, pushing the company’s valuation to approximately €300 million (around $350 million), as indicated by a company spokesperson. Former supporters Creandum and Dig Ventures also participated, alongside angel investors including the CEOs of Datadog, Klarna, Supercell, and Wix.
Evantic, a new venture firm established by Matt Miller, a former Sequoia Capital partner, demonstrated enough persistence to secure this round, even though Nexos.ai wasn’t actively seeking funds, according to Okmanas. Previously, Okmanas and Sabaliauskas have bootstrapped their businesses, including Nord, the $3 billion cybersecurity company known for NordVPN. However, they now recognize the strategic advantage of teaming up with venture capitalists.
In addition to Index’s backing, Nexos.ai is benefiting from Miller’s mentorship and his ‘Legends’ network—a group of 140 experts who advise Evantic’s startup portfolio in exchange for a share of the fund’s profits. Okmanas emphasizes that he is not only a Legend himself, but also leveraging the collective expertise from others to refine their product, which will be a primary focus of the new funding.
Currently, Nexos’ offerings include an AI Workspace interface for employees and an AI Gateway for developers. The gateway functions as a security, cost management, and compliance oversight layer, while also addressing fragmentation—an obstacle Okmanas views as critical for AI adoption. It streamlines access to around 200 AI models, and part of the funding will be allocated towards enhancing support for private models that handle sensitive data.
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Okmanas reports that his team conducts 50 to 60 demo calls each week but anticipates significant “homework” for traditional businesses to convince their boards about AI adoption. Nexos.ai could simplify this process, but initially, the company is targeting tech-forward organizations already employing AI, as well as firms in regulated industries grappling with governance issues and concerns about transmitting sensitive data to foreign-hosted AI models.
The duo recognized the AI governance gap while managing the assets of Tesonet, their startup investment and development company. Tesonet’s portfolio companies are among the early users of Nexos.ai, including the Bulgarian fintech unicorn Payhawk, which also has an office in Vilnius. According to a press release, the newly acquired funding will enable expansion across Europe and North America.
For Okmanas, the mission is clear: to dismantle barriers to widespread AI adoption. While corporate boards deliberate on the true value of AI, he cites tangible results from Tesonet’s portfolio. For instance, at Hostinger, an AI assistant significantly reduced the requirement for human support. Okmanas asserts, “That’s why we didn’t need to hire 500 people and saved €10 million this year alone.”
Even amidst solid performance analytics, Okmanas refrained from disclosing Nexos.ai’s revenue figures. He did share that by the time the company celebrate its first anniversary, the team expects to expand to 100 members—primarily based in Europe, where growing concerns regarding data sovereignty are opening doors for Nexos.ai at public institutions, potentially broadening its market beyond enterprise clients.
