Amsterdam has established itself as Europe’s laboratory for applied artificial intelligence. Driven by the University of Amsterdam and the ELLIS unit, the city’s ecosystem focuses on heavy engineering and ethical infrastructure rather than consumer hype. From vector databases to generative biology, local founders are building the technical layers that will power the next decade of enterprise adoption. Here are the 10 Amsterdam-based startups defining the European AI landscape.
Weaviate
Founded by Bob van Luijt, Weaviate is building the essential memory layer for modern AI applications. Their open-source vector database enables large language models (LLMs) to store, index, and retrieve data with semantic context, solving the critical hallucination problem that plagues enterprise AI adoption. Having raised a $50 million Series B led by Index Ventures, bringing total funding to over $67 million, Weaviate has become a standard component in the modern AI stack. Their platform enables companies to create custom search engines and recommendation systems that truly comprehend their unique business data, positioning them as a foundational player in the Generative AI infrastructure market.
Cradle
Cradle utilises large language models in the complex field of protein engineering, aiming to reduce the time and cost associated with designing enzymes and antibodies. Founders Stef van Grieken and Jelle Prins are using AI to predict protein structures that don’t exist in nature, effectively turning wet-lab biology into a computational discipline. The company secured a massive $73 million Series B in late 2024, bringing its total raised to over $100 million. This funding enables them to accelerate their “generative biology” platform, which pharmaceutical partners are already utilising to engineer novel therapeutics and sustainable materials, thereby bypassing traditional trial-and-error bottlenecks.
DataSnipper
DataSnipper achieved unicorn status in 2024 by solving a deeply unsexy but lucrative problem: audit automation. Founders Maarten Alblas, Jonas Ruyter, and Kai Bakker developed an intelligent automation platform that integrates directly into Excel, allowing auditors to verify data against invoices and bank statements instantly. Their valuation hit $1 billion following a $100 million Series B led by Index Ventures. By serving over 500,000 auditors across 125 countries, including the “Big Four”, DataSnipper has validated a strategy of integrating AI into existing workflows rather than trying to replace them entirely, proving that practical utility often beats hype.
Fourthline
Led by Krik Gunning, Fourthline automates Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance for Europe’s largest financial institutions. Their technology analyses document metadata, physics, and biometric liveness to detect sophisticated fraud rings with high precision. Backed by over €70 million in funding, they handle identity verification for major clients like N26, Trade Republic, and Qonto. As deepfakes become a security threat, Fourthline’s ability to catch synthetic identities has made it the invisible security layer for the European digital economy, processing millions of verifications with near-zero false positives.
Source.ag
Source.ag builds the intelligence layer for high-tech agriculture, a sector where the Netherlands is already a global leader. Founders Rien Kamman and Ernst van Bruggen use AI to simulate plant biology and optimise greenhouse climates, allowing growers to predict yields weeks in advance. Following a $23 million Series A, bringing total funding to $35 million, their platform helps scale food production while minimising resource usage in controlled environments. Their technology is critical for global food security, enabling growers to operate more hectares with fewer resources as climate change makes outdoor farming increasingly erratic.
Syntho
Syntho addresses the data privacy bottleneck by generating synthetic data using AI. Founders Wim Kees Janssen, Marijn Vonk, and Simon Brouwer developed a platform that creates new datasets statistically identical to original records but without any personal information. This approach allows healthcare and financial organisations to train models on sensitive data while remaining fully GDPR compliant. Selected by NVIDIA as a leading Generative AI scale-up, they are unlocking the value of data that was previously too risky to touch, working with clients like SAS and major hospitals to accelerate innovation without compromising privacy.
Dexter Energy
Dexter Energy uses advanced machine learning to forecast energy generation and consumption for the renewable sector. Founder Luuk Veelenturf built a platform that analyses weather patterns, market prices, and grid load to help energy providers trade power efficiently. With €10.5 million in Series B funding, they address the volatility inherent in wind and solar power grids. By reducing imbalance costs for energy companies by up to 40%, Dexter Energy acts as the intelligence layer that prevents the green energy transition from destabilising the grid, a crucial role as Europe moves toward net-zero.
Ellogon.ai
A spin-off from the University of Amsterdam, Ellogon.ai improves cancer treatment outcomes through digital pathology. Founders Dr Efstratios Gavves and Dr Evangelos Kanoulas developed the EIDO platform, which analyses tissue slides to identify biological markers that predict patient response to immunotherapy. This precision approach reduces unnecessary toxic treatments and costs for healthcare systems. Having raised over €1 million in seed funding and grants, their technology is currently being validated in clinical settings, aiming to save millions in healthcare spending while drastically improving patient quality of life.
Framer
Framer has transitioned from a design prototyping tool into a dominant AI-powered web builder. Founders Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk integrated generative models that allow users to deploy responsive, production-ready websites from simple text prompts. The platform has seen rapid adoption in 2024 and 2025, streamlining the workflow between design and frontend development. With a Series C round of $27 million, bringing total funding to over $60 million, Framer is redefining the role of the web designer in the age of automation, empowering creators to build professional sites without writing a single line of code.
Neople
Neople constructs digital employees for customer support teams. Founded in 2023 by Hans de Penning, their AI agents integrate seamlessly into platforms like Slack and Teams to autonomously handle complex support tickets using company-specific data. Raising €6 million in 2024 for expansion into Germany, they focus on augmenting human teams with context-aware AI colleagues. Unlike basic chatbots, Neoples adopt the tone and knowledge of the company, effectively acting as a new team member that learns and adapts, helping e-commerce giants handle volume spikes without burning out human staff.
