The founders behind NordVPN's $3 billion parent company just secured €30 million ($35M) for their new AI startup, Nexos.ai. The Series A round positions the Lithuanian duo to solve what they see as enterprise AI's biggest challenge - keeping data secure while employees embrace productivity tools that could leak sensitive information.
The timing couldn't be more critical. While executives debate AI's ROI potential, employees are already uploading sensitive corporate data to ChatGPT and other large language models - creating what Nexos.ai co-founder Tomas Okmanas calls "the biggest corporate data leak" currently in the making.
Just nine months after emerging from stealth with an $8 million seed round led by Index Ventures, Okmanas and his Nord Security co-founder Eimantas Sabaliauskas have closed a €30 million Series A (approximately $35 million) for their AI orchestration platform. The round, co-led by Index and Evantic Capital at a €300 million valuation, validates their solution to enterprise AI's security paradox.
"Rather than banning AI use, we want Nexos.ai to act as a 'Switzerland for LLMs,'" Okmanas explains. The platform sits between teams and AI tools, maintaining data control without sacrificing the productivity gains companies desperately want but fear pursuing. It's a measured approach from founders who previously bootstrapped their way to building Nord Security, the $3 billion cybersecurity empire behind NordVPN.
The rapid fundraising wasn't planned. According to TechCrunch's exclusive coverage, Evantic's persistence convinced the founders to take capital even though they weren't actively fundraising. Former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller's new fund brings more than money - his 'Legends' network of 140 operators advises portfolio companies in exchange for fund profit shares.
That network includes notable angels who participated in this round - CEOs from Datadog, Klarna, Supercell, and Wix. Previous investors Creandum and Dig Ventures also doubled down, signaling confidence in the founders' enterprise AI vision.
The Nexos platform currently offers two core products: an AI Workspace interface for employees and an AI Gateway for developers. The gateway provides a single access point to approximately 200 AI models while acting as a control layer for security, cost management, and compliance oversight. The company plans to use its fresh funding to accelerate support for private models handling sensitive data.
Demand is heating up. Okmanas reports his team conducts 50-60 demo calls weekly, though he acknowledges traditional businesses face "a lot of homework" convincing their boards about AI adoption strategies. The startup initially targets tech-savvy companies already using AI daily, plus regulated industries concerned about data governance and foreign-hosted AI models.
The founders spotted this AI governance gap while overseeing Tesonet, their company that builds and invests in startups. Tesonet portfolio companies became early Nexos customers, alongside disclosed clients like Bulgarian fintech unicorn Payhawk. The funding will now support expansion across Europe and North America.
Real results drive Okmanas' mission to remove AI adoption barriers. At portfolio company Hostinger, an AI assistant reduced human support needs significantly. "That's why we didn't need to hire 500 people and saved €10 million this year alone," he notes, though he declined to disclose Nexos.ai's own revenue figures.
Instead, growth metrics tell the story. By its first anniversary, Nexos expects to employ 100 people - mostly in Europe, where data sovereignty concerns are opening doors at public institutions. This represents a potential new market beyond the startup's enterprise focus, as European regulations increasingly favor locally controlled AI infrastructure.
The Series A positions Nexos at the center of enterprise AI's next phase - moving beyond pilots to production deployments that boards can actually approve.
This Series A signals a maturing enterprise AI market where security and governance matter as much as capabilities. With proven founders, strong backing, and a platform addressing real corporate pain points, Nexos.ai is positioned to shape how enterprises actually deploy AI at scale. The company's growth from seed to Series A in under a year suggests demand for secure AI orchestration is accelerating - particularly in Europe where data sovereignty concerns create additional tailwinds for locally-controlled solutions.
