For businesses competing for government contracts, the biggest challenge is often not finding an opportunity but navigating the enormous amount of paperwork and information required to pursue it. Italian AI startup Cato is tackling that problem with a €6 million seed funding round, building a platform designed to help companies discover relevant public tenders, understand complex requirements and prepare bids with less manual work.
The round was led by Keen Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Vento, Heartfelt, Moonstone, BHeroes, Alecla7 and Nova Venture. Angel investors including the founders of Lexroom, Sibill and Pillar also participated. The latest investment follows a pre seed round led by Italian Founders Fund, bringing Cato’s total funding to €7.6 million.
Tackling a Huge Market
Public procurement represents a major commercial opportunity for businesses across Europe. According to figures cited by Cato, public procurement accounts for around 14% of European Union GDP, representing approximately €2.5 trillion in annual spending across more than 250,000 contracting authorities.
Italy alone recorded €309 billion worth of public tenders in 2025, according to ANAC, the country’s National Anti Corruption Authority.
Yet accessing this market can be difficult for companies. Tender teams may need to monitor numerous portals, screen lengthy notices, read technical specifications, check eligibility requirements and prepare administrative and technical documents before a bid can even be submitted.
Cato is building its platform to simplify that entire process.
AI Finds the Right Tenders
The company’s technology continuously monitors more than 25,000 sources and uses AI to identify tenders that match a company’s profile. Rather than requiring teams to manually search across multiple procurement portals, Cato brings opportunities into a single platform and ranks them according to relevance.
Once a suitable tender has been identified, the platform analyses the relevant documentation and extracts key information such as requirements, deadlines, contract values and evaluation criteria.
Cato also identifies potential inconsistencies within tender documents, helping teams determine whether clarification may be required before submitting an offer.
From Analysis to Bid Preparation
Cato’s role extends beyond tender discovery. Its platform helps teams prepare administrative documentation and technical bid materials, including repetitive forms and the European Single Procurement Document.
The system is designed to connect information generated by AI back to the original source documents, giving users greater visibility into where key information comes from. The company positions the technology as a copilot, with final decisions and submission responsibility remaining with the customer.
The platform also allows different members of a tender team to work within the same environment, helping coordinate technical, commercial and administrative activities.
Early Customer Traction
Cato says it has processed thousands of tenders since launching and has attracted more than 100 Italian companies within its first six months. Its customers range from small and medium sized businesses to larger companies operating in areas including medical devices, construction, information technology and services.
The company says its platform can help businesses spend less time searching through portals and paperwork and more time developing competitive bids.
Andrea Zorzetto, CEO and co founder of Cato, said early customer feedback has shown that businesses see the technology as an ally in identifying suitable tenders, understanding requirements and preparing bids.
Preparing for International Expansion
The new €6 million investment will be used to accelerate product development, expand Cato’s commercial operations and grow its team.
The company also plans to broaden the sectors covered by its platform and support multinational customers with tender processes outside Italy. This marks the beginning of Cato’s international expansion as it looks to take its AI based approach to public procurement into additional European markets.
With public procurement representing a vast pool of potential business, Cato is betting that AI can make government contracting more accessible by reducing the time and complexity involved between discovering an opportunity and submitting a competitive bid.