For many enterprise companies, AI remains either an unfulfilled promise or a notable security risk. Lithuania’s renowned entrepreneur pair, Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, co-founders of Nord Security, are addressing this challenge through their new startup, Nexos. ai. The platform facilitates secure AI adoption by acting as an intermediary between employees and AI systems, helping companies control data without sacrificing productivity. Shortly after Nexos. ai emerged from stealth mode with an $8 million funding round led by Index Ventures, the duo secured a €30 million Series A (around $35 million), co-led by Index Ventures and Evantic Capital, at a valuation near €300 million ($350 million). Existing investors Creandum and Dig Ventures, along with angel backers including CEOs from Datadog, Klarna, Supercell, and Wix, also participated. Okmanas warns of an ongoing significant corporate data leak risk, as employees upload sensitive information to large language models (LLMs). Instead of banning AI usage, Nexos. ai positions itself as a “Switzerland for LLMs, ” a neutral body that mediates between teams and AI tools to maintain data control while preserving productivity benefits. Evantic Capital, founded by former Sequoia partner Matt Miller, was instrumental in closing the funding, despite Nexos. ai initially not seeking investment. Okmanas and Sabaliauskas, who bootstrapped Nord—a $3 billion cybersecurity company—now appreciate the strategic value brought by venture capital, including access to Miller’s ‘Legends’ network of 140 operators advising portfolio startups.

Okmanas himself is part of this network and leverages this expertise to refine Nexos. ai’s product, a focus supported by the fresh capital. Nexos. ai’s current offering includes an AI Workspace for employees and an AI Gateway for developers. The Gateway serves as a control layer managing security, costs, compliance, and reduces fragmentation—a major hurdle in AI adoption—by providing a single access point to around 200 AI models. The company plans to use funds to enhance support for private models handling sensitive data. With 50 to 60 demo calls per week, the team sees traditional businesses facing substantial challenges convincing their boards on AI adoption strategies. Nexos. ai aims to ease deployments, initially targeting tech-savvy firms that already use AI regularly and organizations in regulated sectors concerned about governance and cross-border data sharing. The founders spotted the AI governance gap while managing Tesonet’s portfolio—a company that builds and invests in startups—and several Tesonet portfolio companies are among Nexos. ai’s disclosed customers, including the Bulgarian fintech unicorn Payhawk, which operates in Vilnius. The new funding will accelerate expansion across Europe and North America. Okmanas emphasizes Nexos. ai’s mission of removing barriers to widespread AI adoption. While many enterprise boards remain skeptical about AI’s value, his examples within Tesonet’s portfolio show concrete results—such as at Hostinger, a web hosting firm where an AI assistant reduced human support needs, saving €10 million and avoiding 500 new hires this year alone. Though Nexos. ai’s revenue remains undisclosed, the company plans to grow to 100 employees by its first anniversary, mainly across Europe. Data sovereignty concerns have also opened opportunities within public institutions—potentially expanding Nexos. ai’s market beyond enterprises. [Note: The headline of the original story has been corrected for accuracy. ]