Amsterdam-based Altura, an AI-powered bid management startup, has raised €8M in Series A funding. The company has introduced autonomous AI agents to assist businesses in securing tenders in both the public and private sectors.
The funding round was led by Octopus Ventures. Existing investors Fortino Capital, Curiosity VC, and P1ST investors Perry Oostdam and Pawel Smoczyk also participated.
Constanza Diaz, Investor at Octopus Ventures, says, “Bid management is an essential function in many companies, directly linked to companies’ top-line growth. Altura is redefining what modern bid processes look like through its AI-powered solution, giving teams the automation and insights they need to operate at the next level.”
“We are proud to welcome Altura to the Octopus Ventures portfolio and support the team in its UK expansion.”
Expansion in the UK
Altura will use the funds to support the scaling of its operations and the opening of a new office in London as part of its expansion into the UK market.
Matthijs Huiskamp, founder & CEO of Altura, says, “We see the UK as a perfect next step for Altura. While AI is still in the early stages of adoption in bid management, the UK is one of Europe’s largest markets, with £350B spent annually on public sector procurement.”
“With the new Procurement Act, we see an even bigger need for Bid Management software, since this will enable and encourage even more companies to participate in the tenders. This creates more demand for software such as ours that helps companies work more efficiently to win more bids.”
Streamlining tender & Request for Proposal
As organisations increase their use of tenders and Request for Proposal processes, public tenders in the UK have grown by 28 per cent over three years.
These tenders require detailed information, adding pressure on bid managers who must handle lengthy submission processes and coordinate input from legal, compliance, technical, and other teams. This is where Altura looks to make a difference.
Founded in 2021, Altura is a bid management platform that centralises the proposal process and integrates AI to support bid teams across sectors such as technology, professional services, and construction.
The company serves enterprise clients in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the UK, working with brands like Adecco, EY, and Ricoh.
Large government contracts can be worth millions, requiring significant time and effort from bid teams. Altura’s research indicates that 67 per cent of bid teams are unsatisfied with their win rates, and 98 per cent do not use data effectively during bidding.
Altura’s platform supports all stages of the bid management lifecycle by centralising knowledge, managing workflows, and helping companies secure more tenders.
Over the past year, the company integrated AI tools powered by Large Language Models to assist with searching internal data, summarising information, and generating proposal content.
The platform also automates tasks such as identifying tenders online, providing insights for bid decisions, and analysing performance for future bids. An AI co-pilot remains active on screen to assist bid managers throughout the process.
In 2024, Altura raised €3M in a seed round from Curiosity, Fortino Capital, and P1ST investors Perry Oostdam and Pawel Smoczyk.
Capital utilisation
The funds will be used by Altura to introduce autonomous AI agents. These agents go beyond traditional AI tools by actively completing tasks and making decisions on behalf of users, addressing complex and time-consuming challenges faced by bid managers.
Founder & CEO of Altura, Matthijs Huiskamp, says, “At Altura, we are turning the static bid book into an intelligent hub that connects sales, legal and every subject-matter expert while learning from each interaction.”
“Our autonomous AI agents draw on that collective knowledge to draft answers, flag risks and surface win-loss insights, freeing teams from copy-paste work so they can focus on strategy.
“This investment accelerates that vision and our London launch brings it into one of the world’s busiest tender markets, giving UK organisations the speed and clarity they need to win more deals.”
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