Finnish startup NestAI secures €100 million, partners with Nokia to build AI for defense applications

Finnish startup For pregnancy It has raised €100 million (about $115 million) in a funding round led by Finland’s sovereign wealth fund, TS, and hardware giant Nokia to build artificial intelligence products for use in unmanned vehicles, autonomous operations, and command and control platforms.

NestAI has also hit a partnership With Nokia to build and develop AI products for defense applicationsPhysical artificial intelligence“, which involves the use of large language models and related technology for robotics and other real-world applications.

The funding will help NestAI build “Europe’s leading physical AI lab,” co-founder Peter Sarlin said at the Slush 2025 technology conference in Helsinki.

Physical AI has been a growing area of ​​research for both big tech companies and startups, and NestAI’s funding round shows that there is room for European companies to develop home-grown solutions to meet the continent’s needs — which have turned toward defense applications due to the long war between Ukraine and Russia. Last month, the startup announced that it would do just that Support the Finnish Defense Forces In adopting artificial intelligence.

This focus on sovereignty may explain why NestAI has remained hidden so far, but is now building publicly, with support from Sarlin, who has been funding the project for the past few months through his family office. postscripttom.

“In line with PostScriptum’s mission, NestAI set out from the beginning to become Europe’s leading physical AI laboratory to advance technological sovereignty,” Sarlin told TechCrunch. “This partnership also represents an important step in securing Europe’s defense capabilities and sovereignty,” he added.

Following the sale of AI startup Silo AI to AMD For $665 million In the past year, Sarlen has been active as Mohsen and investor, backing startups like Legora and Lovable. While he’s building NestAI, his day job is still at AMD, and he will only serve as the startup’s president, not its CEO.

NestAI doesn’t have a CEO yet, but its growing team has attracted talent with experience in AI research and hardware projects that overlap with defense. A large number of its employees Previously worked for Intelwhile others previously worked for companies such as Kongsberg, Palantir and SAP.