Agentic AI startups are gaining traction fast in Europe. Startups in the sector raised a staggering €6bn last year, according to Sifted data, and are already on track to surpass that in 2026, having brought in €4.6bn year to date.
One sector using AI to automate tasks which is really taking off is accounting and finance.
Leading companies include Spanish treasury management startup Embat, which raised €30m in May, and Milan-based JetHR, which raised €25m in June. Visma, which offers software in accounting, payroll and tax to SMBs, also uses AI internally, both in its products and across its own operations. Its internal push extends to the wider group too, especially through a portfolio of accounting software companies it owns across Europe.Proven customer value is one thing Visma considers when looking to acquire businesses, as well as how well the software is tailored to its local market.The company now has more than 600 AI initiatives within its portfolio, which it separates into those still in the early experimental phase and those that could be scaled across the wider group.
“We want to accelerate and scale the AI initiatives we find the most promising, but also to share knowledge with customers and the wider Visma group,” says T. Alexander Lystad, chief technology officer at Visma.
