Stockholm AI startup Pit secures $16m seed round from a16z to automate enterprise back-office functions
The firm is targeting telecom, healthcare and logistics sectors with a focus on improving work quality and governance rather than replacing human staff.
Stockholm-based artificial intelligence startup Pit has secured a $16 million seed round led by venture capital firm a16z. The company is being led by co-founders Fredrik Hjelm and Adam Jafer, who previously co-founded the European e-scooter giant Voi. Hjelm, who remains CEO of Voi, serves as a co-founder of Pit alongside Jafer, who departed Voi last summer after a seven-year tenure.
Pit is positioning itself as an 'AI product team as a service', specialising in automating internal back-office processes for enterprise clients. The company targets sectors including telecommunications, healthcare, and logistics. Its strategy relies on two core platforms: Pit Studio, which allows employees to guide the creation of AI-generated software, and Pit Cloud, which delivers the software while meeting strict requirements for governance, auditability and certifications.
The startup differentiates itself through an agnostic approach to AI and cloud vendors, enabling clients to utilise sovereign technology stacks. This allows enterprises to run EU-based models on EU compute, a configuration that is of top priority for many chief information officers in the region. Pit launched pilot testing with customers in mid-January, focusing exclusively on internal process automation without deploying customer-facing conversational AI.
Regarding the company's operational model, CEO Adam Jafer has clarified that Pit aims to improve work quality and reduce errors rather than cut jobs. While the firm initially faced controversy over a claim that AI agents replaced junior engineers, Jafer has since revised this stance to emphasise a mixed team structure as the company scales. The goal is to move people upstream to perform more valuable tasks rather than engaging in repetitive back-office work.
To drive adoption among large customers, Pit is hiring solution engineers to embed within client organisations. This forward-deployed approach aligns with current trends in the industry, ensuring that clients receive outcomes and productivity unlocks rather than just software. The founders noted that while the initial founding team was all-male, the broader Pit staff includes female employees, a point co-founder Hjelm addressed on social media to counter perceptions about the company's composition.
The investment round was also supported by Pit's founders, Lakestar, executives from American technology companies, and wealthy families from the Nordics. Hjelm highlighted the strong relationship between the founders and a16z partners, noting that the firm was selected to provide the strongest backing available. This capital injection reinforces Stockholm's status as a significant European startup hub, with a16z actively seeking the next unicorn in the region.
