Duvo raises $32 million to expand enterprise AI automation
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Duvo raises $32 million to expand enterprise AI automation

Duvo has raised $32 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the implementation of its corporate artificial intelligence automation strategy. The investment round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from existing investors Index Ventures, Northzone, and Credo Ventures. These investments bring Duvo's total funding to $48 million.

The Prague-based company plans to use the capital to scale its business by starting work with retailers and consumer goods manufacturers. The funds will also be directed towards product development and global expansion. The company's goal is to enable businesses to automate complex workflows without eliminating human labor.

Duvo was founded by Tomasz Chuprow, founder of the online product retailer Rohlik Group. The company positions its product as an Enterprise Execution OS. This platform provides a unified solution allowing companies to control execution processes, approved workflows, and measurable results.

The Duvo platform determines how employees perform tasks before automating approved processes. The Duvo Clarity product gathers information through AI-driven interviews, screen recordings, and existing documents. This helps the company understand operational workflows and identify areas where manual labor leads to inefficiency.

Subsequently, AI agents execute approved steps in enterprise resource planning systems, supplier portals, spreadsheets, and mailboxes. Where appropriate interfaces exist, they utilize Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). If such connections are absent, the agents can operate through familiar user interfaces.

The platform also routes decisions and exceptions to the relevant employees. Dashboards display pending approvals and completed work. This structure allows organizations to maintain control over sensitive decisions while automating repetitive actions.

Duvo claims that companies can launch their first automated process within weeks. This approach is designed to avoid extensive engineering work and large integration projects. Businesses can also apply approved models tailored to their security requirements.

Initially, Duvo focuses on US retailers and consumer goods manufacturers. To support this expansion, the company has recruited experienced executives. Michael Green joined as Chief Commercial Officer after working at Databricks and Salesforce.

Spencer Insolia has been appointed Managing Director for the US. Spencer has experience at Kmart and Accenture. This global e-commerce facilitator also collaborates with well-known brands such as Morrisons, Holland & Barrett, Boden, Notino, and Allegro.

These partnerships demonstrate how automated workflows can optimize daily tasks. For instance, retailers often have complex processes related to suppliers, inventory, finance, and customers. Notino, a major European online cosmetics retailer, is one such example.

Balderton Capital's investment reflects the growing interest in AI platforms that deliver measurable business outcomes. Gartner predicts that spending on business orchestration and automation technologies will exceed $21 billion by 2029. Nevertheless, enterprises continue to face difficulties in scaling agent AI projects.

Gartner also predicted that over 40% of agent AI projects might be abandoned by the end of 2027. This is attributed to budget overruns, failure to achieve business value, and lack of effective risk control. Measurability and governance are critical for success.

Duvo emphasizes its methodological difference: instead of individual agents, the company connects operational workflows using common systems, approval rules, and performance metrics. This is done to ensure reliable automation across the board.

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Albert raises $55 million to advance chemical AI in R&D
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Albert raises $55 million to advance chemical AI in R&D

Albert has successfully raised $55 million in a Series B funding round, with the funds designated for advancing artificial intelligence in scientific research. The leadership of this round was secured by TCV, and new investors joined, including Delta-v Capital, Socium Ventures, High Sage Ventures, Coral Capital, and Legion VC.

Truffle Capital led the financing, with participation from existing investors such as Coatue, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, Index Ventures, and Applied Ventures. The company plans to use the raised capital to further refine its chemistry-based platform.

Located in Oakland, California, Albert develops an operating system for materials science and chemistry. This platform integrates specialized AI with corporate security, management, and integration features, such as no data storage, granular access control, and audit trails of reasoning.

Albert provides services to organizations with complex research challenges facing evolving regulations and disrupted supply chains. Among the company's clients are BASF, Henkel, Clorox, Kenvue, and Akzo Nobel. Albert's goal is to help these companies' scientists faster transform experimental data into innovative products.

Albert's model, named Valence, is chemically specific and demonstrates an accuracy 45 times higher than general AI when answering scientific questions. This accuracy metric was achieved in a new study accompanying the funding announcement. Valence was trained on text processing and composition and function identification.

The method mimics the ability of an experienced chemist to distinguish between similar compositions and materials, as well as understand how minor changes can significantly impact an experiment. In chemistry, for instance, the slightest deviations in ingredients, procedures, or experimental conditions can lead to different results. Albert handles this through domain-specific intelligence and its Form Bench benchmark for formal chemistry.

Albert asserts that this benchmark will set a new standard for evaluation in this highly specialized field. The Albert platform combines scientific knowledge, AI tools, integrations, and regulatory control into a single environment. It allows scientists to interact with research data using natural language. By querying Albert, users coordinate tools, agents, and models to support complex scientific work.

The system helps teams find institutional knowledge and avoid repeating past experiments. It is capable of suggesting formula candidates, assisting in experiment design, and analyzing large datasets. These capabilities aim to eliminate bottlenecks in research and improve decision-making processes.

Furthermore, Albert supports enterprise requirements regarding data security and controlled access. Its chemistry-specific approach enables organizations to link information across various research systems, facilitating the discovery and reuse of valuable experimental knowledge.

Over the past year, Albert has demonstrated significant platform growth. Project creation increased 26-fold as Albert OS was implemented in organizational research functions. The number of scientists using the platform grew sixfold across 44 countries. These achievements reflect growing interest in specialized AI for corporate research.

Workflow creation also increased fourfold as more teams adopted various research processes on the platform. Ask Albert transformed from an AI search assistant into a broader R&D partner in just six months. Client feedback highlights the value of connecting disparate scientific information. Kenvue noted that the partnership with Albert improved connections within the overall data platform, while AkzoNobel used Ask Albert to query information covering raw materials and lab journal entries. Albert intends to use the new funding to expand its capabilities and accelerate product development.

Stuut raises $52.5 million to expand AI-powered order-to-payment automation platform
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Stuut raises $52.5 million to expand AI-powered order-to-payment automation platform

Stuut, a New York-based company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven financial solutions, has successfully raised $52.5 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, M12, and Activant. The financing was closed within 24 hours, increasing Stuut's total funds raised to $93 million.

This funding came just 10 months after the company secured $29.5 million in a Series A round. The funds are planned to meet growing customer demand and to achieve deeper penetration into the financial transaction infrastructure. Stuut offers an AI platform designed to automate workflows from order placement to payment receipt for large enterprises.

The platform covers order management, lending, payment collection, payment processing, and fund application. Furthermore, it handles dispute resolution and deductions throughout the entire transaction lifecycle. This approach helps financial teams resolve issues before they lead to payment delays.

The system integrates with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and other financial tools, including bank accounts, CRM systems, and payment platforms. Stuut states that its agents can contact customers via email, SMS, and phone, and access accounts payable portals to investigate payment issues. The platform maintains context from previous interactions, and every action remains auditable within existing control and approval processes.

The company initially focused on payment collection before expanding its scope to cover the entire order-to-payment process. Stuut found that late payments often stem from earlier transaction issues, such as missing purchase orders, which can lead to invoice rejections or deductions. Delays can also be caused by price discrepancies or incorrect contact information.

Stuut notes that globally, businesses have approximately $16 trillion frozen in accounts receivable, and believes that inefficient order-to-payment cycle processes can cause significant revenue leakage. The platform is currently used by over 150 companies, including members of the Fortune 50 and Fortune 500. The company reports that over $3 billion has passed through its platform, and clients have recorded a 47% reduction in days sales outstanding.

The company plans to scale its platform as corporate demand grows. The new funding will support Stuut's expansion into the enterprise market and further deepening its integration into the financial infrastructure. The roadmap includes lending, loan provision, and fund movement, enabling Stuut to handle transactions beyond collection and reconciliation.

The company states that 81.7% of outbound payment collection activities are now performed without human intervention, and 95% of incoming payments are automatically matched. Stuut was founded in 2024 by Tareq Alaruri, Ben Winter, and Mirajm Mosin; Alaruri previously co-founded the procurement software company Fairmarkit.

The latest round followed several developments related to the Stuut platform: the company was included in the Microsoft Marketplace and joined the Microsoft startup program. Insight Partners led the latest financing after supporting other automation enterprises. Andreessen Horowitz also participated after leading Stuut's Series A. M12 joined the round as a Microsoft venture fund, and Activant returned as an investor after its initial involvement. Stuut reports that its customer base has grown fivefold, and every completed Proof of Concept has been converted into a paying client.

The company's broader goal is to manage transactions from initial orders to final payment. Currently, the company faces a growing opportunity in corporate finance, and the next phase will focus on testing whether AI can manage increasingly complex financial workflows.

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