Utrecht’s Brainial bags Investment from Pieter Schoen to tackle Europe’s tender troubles

Utrecht-based Brainial, an AI-based tender assistant that creates better proposals faster, has secured fresh funding to simplify tender procedures. The funding amount, however, remains undisclosed.

The investment comes from Dutch entrepreneur Pieter Schoen, providing resources for founders Fedor Klinkenberg and Taco Hiddink to expand their company.

Brainial will use the funds to improve its product, introduce new features, and expand sales and marketing efforts. The founders aim to grow the company across Europe, with a long-term vision of optimising the tendering market on a global scale.

An AI-based tender assistant

Brainial mentions in a statement that public tenders account for over €2T in EU government spending, requiring businesses to process large amounts of documentation to submit bids. Founders Klinkenberg and Hiddink have introduced a new approach to simplify this process.

Founded in 2019, Brainial’s software uses AI to process and analyse key details from tender documents, helping companies save time and improve efficiency.

The company aims to address challenges in handling large volumes of information and repetitive tasks by using intelligent automation. 

By scaling knowledge with accuracy and reliability, Brainial seeks to free bid teams to focus on strategic and creative work. The goal is to enable companies to participate in tenders with lower risks and higher chances of success.

The company has attracted major clients, including Heijmans, Croonwolter&dros, and Randstad.

Investor Pieter Schoen, says, “The customers we spoke with were very enthusiastic about Brainial. The AI software not only saves significant time but also generates substantial revenue increases for companies using it—a unique combination at a scale I haven’t seen before. 

“We saw an excellent investment opportunity thanks to the company’s impressive growth numbers and strong team.”

Before founding Brainial, Hiddink sold Jibes Data Analytics to Waterland, and Klinkenberg spent over 11 years at Mendix, gaining experience in tenders before its acquisition by Siemens for €628M. 

Advancements in AI, combined with Hiddink’s technical background and Klinkenberg’s industry expertise, led to the creation of Brainial. Since its launch, the Kruit brothers, co-founders of Mendix, have advised the company.