Brussels-based AI-Blox, a scale-up developing physical AI solutions, announced that it has closed its first funding with the backing of Smartfin, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms.
Smartfin is a European venture and growth capital investor, managing over €600M in assets and investing in early and growth stage B2B technology companies.
The VC has an open-ended investment philosophy and invests throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. Smartfin’s previous track record includes backing scaleups like Deliverect and Silverfin, both of which achieved strong international growth.
The round was also supported by participating investors, including finance&invest.brussels and existing investor imec.istart.
The capital will help the company recruit top engineering talent and expand internationally.
What does AI Blox solve?
At present, most AI applications are running on cloud infrastructure due to massive processing power.
Data are captured through sensors, after which they are transmitted to a data centre to perform intensive calculations.
“This process is error-prone, while physical AI needs super fast, stable & secure data transmission as it operates in critical situations. The solution is to process data as close as possible to the source, which is called edge computing,” says Jeroen Plasman,
co-founder of AI-Blox.
“The next leap forward in AI will happen on factory floors, in warehouses, on farms, along roads and in cities. Real-world AI – Physical AI – will redefine how we work, produce, move & live,” adds Plasman.
Here’s where AI-Blox comes in!
AI-Blox: Designing high-performance computing systems
Founded by Hans Stevens and Jeroen Plasman, AI-Blox designs high-performance computing systems that can be integrated into autonomous vehicles, industrial robots, smart factories, hospitals, and city infrastructure.
Its physical “building blox” allow customers to tailor systems to their specific needs, from autonomous forklift operations to smarter quality control on factory floors and intelligent surveillance in public spaces.
The company is already collaborating with Kion Group, a German logistics leader, and Belgian recycling innovator Rematics.
Its strategic partnership with Nvidia will further strengthen its technology as it scales operations, claims the company.
AI-Blox currently employs 17 people but aims to grow into a 100-strong team. The company has also set its sights on scaling to €100M in revenue in the next 5 years.
“Eighty per cent of our revenue already comes from the United States,” says Plasman. “Despite global trade tensions, we’ve actually gained a competitive advantage over competitors facing tariffs. With this investment, we are doubling down on growth to meet the global demand for physical AI.”
