Participated · Seed · Feb 2024

Leya AI is a Vilnius-based company focused on democratizing access to personal coaching by initially revolutionizing language learning. Its core product is an affordable real-time speaking AI Tutor, marketed as an AI English Tutor. The company plans to expand beyond language tutoring into a versatile human-like tutor covering various life coaching domains. Leya AI raised €1M in pre-seed funding to support product development and growth. The funds will be used to enhance the AI English Tutor, attract and retain talent in product and engineering roles, and support the company’s expansion. The team’s stated vision is to bring personalized coaching to learners globally.

Led · Seed · Dec 2022

Tapline offers non-dilutive financing to B2B SaaS and subscription businesses by pre-financing future receivables, supported by AI-driven credit technology. It can fund companies with as little as €15K MRR and also provides advanced AI-powered analytics. The platform serves clients across Germany, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, with further expansion plans to be announced. Tapline combines credit assessment technology with larger ticket sizes to address liquidity gaps faced by subscription businesses. The company has raised capital to scale operations, expand its platform, and continue serving existing customers while remaining capital-light through a bespoke debt facility. Tapline provides revenue-based financing (RBF) that delivers non-dilutive working capital to startups based on monthly recurring revenue, using an algorithmic underwriting process that can fund businesses in less than 48 hours. The company focuses on serving SaaS businesses in the DACH and CEE regions and will provide financing to companies with MRR levels as low as €8,000. Tapline emerged from stealth alongside its public reveal and highlights a founding team—Dean Hastie, Dmitrij Miller, and Peter Grouev—with more than 25 years of relevant experience. The business plans to use new capital to enhance its current solution and to hire in marketing and product. Tapline is entering an increasingly crowded RBF market and faces competitive pressure, including a recently released AI-driven offering tied to the team behind EQT Ventures’ Motherbrain. The company combines algorithmic underwriting with a low-MRR entry point to target underserved smaller SaaS firms.