Circeus announced its launch as an AI-native holding company for mission-critical software, along with a new equity investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The launch introduces Circeus as the holding company brand for the group behind Shop Circle. Shop Circle will continue operating as the group’s retail and commerce software division.
The equity investment from EBRD, with participation from other investors, will support the deployment of AI across Circeus’ portfolio and fund the company’s continued acquisition of software businesses that power the everyday economy.
Circeus said it has completed 18 acquisitions over the last four years and serves more than 200,000 businesses worldwide. The company is scaling profitably and expects to complete additional acquisitions over the coming months.
The company’s model is based on acquiring vertical software businesses and connecting them to a central AI engineering capability. Circeus said its AI agents and skills are built once and then deployed across the portfolio to improve products, automate operations, and reuse infrastructure, data, and insights across the group.
Circeus said AI has moved from experimentation to scaled deployment across its portfolio over the past three years. The company said AI-enabled features now drive a double-digit share of net new bookings, customer experience automation has reached up to about 80% in several products, and AI-assisted workflows have improved developer productivity by more than 100%.
The company said these results show a repeatable model that improves product performance, operational efficiency, and post-acquisition EBITDA rather than isolated product-level improvements.
Circeus describes AI as the operating system of the group, not simply a layer added to each product. The company said its goal is to move software from systems of record to systems of action by turning tasks into outcomes.
For founders who sell to Circeus, the company said it offers a permanent home where brands, teams, and customer relationships are preserved. Circeus provides AI engineering, growth expertise, and centralized back-office support to help acquired companies evolve.
The new investment brings Circeus’ total equity raised to more than $120 million and total capital raised to more than $220 million. The company’s backers include NFX, QED Investors, Nextalia, 645 Ventures, 3VC, Endeavor Catalyst, CDP Venture Capital, and EBRD, along with a $100 million-plus credit facility from i80 Group.
Circeus said AI adoption across the real economy remains early, with about one in five enterprises in Europe and the U.S. currently reporting AI usage. The company sees an opportunity to close that adoption gap by embedding advanced AI capabilities into mission-critical software used by businesses across commerce, logistics, and specialist industries.
Circeus operates from London, Milan, and Sarajevo. The company acquires and evolves vertical software businesses that serve the everyday economy.
KEY QUOTES:
“As AI evolves software from passive tools into systems that act and execute, the addressable market for technology is expanding several-fold. We are building the platform to capture this shift. We were not running a fundraising process, as we are profitable and well capitalised, but we chose to make space for EBRD given their institutional standing and to lean further into a market that presents several attractive opportunities.”
Luca Cartechini, Founder and CEO of Circeus
“Across different businesses, we have proven that evolving a product into its AI-native form can drive a step-change in the market it can address. The hard part is doing this repeatedly, and that is what we have built: a central engineering capability that turns each transformation into a foundation for the next.”
Gian Maria Gramondi, Founder and COO of Circeus
“With more than $220m of total capital raised to date, we have substantial firepower to deploy in a highly attractive acquisition environment, with several deals expected to complete over the coming months. Deal after deal, we are proving a repeatable operating model that drives EBITDA uplift and strong returns across the assets we acquire and operate.”
Robin Hardt, CFO of Circeus
“We are backing a team bringing AI to the essential software that businesses across our regions rely on every day, and Circeus’s compounding model aligns closely with EBRD’s long-term mandate. The market for bringing AI to the real economy is enormous, and we look forward to supporting Circeus, alongside a strong group of investors, across the journey.”
Bruno Lusic, Investor at EBRD
