Assiduous, a capital markets fintech based in Dublin, has secured €1M to accelerate the launch of its AI-enabled Corporate Finance Autopilot, a virtual advisory platform aimed at simplifying access to capital markets for SMEs.
The round included private investment from angel investors, with support from Enterprise Ireland’s High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) programme. The company also received backing from the EIT Digital Open Innovation Factory, further embedding it within the European tech and innovation ecosystem.
Launched in 2023, Assiduous aims to modernise how SMEs prepare for major corporate transactions - such as fundraising, exits, or strategic deals - by automating traditionally manual corporate finance processes. At the core of this vision is the Corporate Finance Autopilot™, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that leverages the AI, to deliver tailored corporate advisory support to business owners.
Across Europe, SMEs represent 99 percent of all businesses and are responsible for two-thirds of private sector employment. Yet access to capital and advisory services remains a significant challenge for companies outside of major financial hubs. The European Commission and national governments have repeatedly flagged the SME funding gap as a structural issue holding back innovation and economic resilience.
The new funding will support product development through 2025 and 2026, as well as recruitment in AI, engineering, and product management. The company also plans to further capitalise on agentic AI technologies - systems that can perform multi-step reasoning and autonomous actions - to deliver proactive and context-aware financial guidance to clients.
Assiduous has also formed a strategic collaboration with Euronext Group, aimed at enabling earlier access for SMEs to capital markets. This partnership stems from the company’s participation in the EU co-funded EIT Digital Open Innovation Factory 2024 programme.
“Businesses are at a pivotal moment in the application of technology to the provision of professional services. We are only scratching the surface with the value that can be created for business owners from leveraging AI to do more with less," said Fergal Meegan, CEO and co-founder of Assiduous.
“We are pleased that we could provide financial support for Assiduous at a formative stage in its evolution,” added Dénes Csiszár, Interim Head of Acceleration and Growth at EIT Digital. “We are excited about Assiduous’ prospects to solve some of Europe’s critical strategic and financing challenges for SMEs using the latest artificial intelligence innovations. We look forward to witnessing Assiduous’ progress in the coming years as a champion for European SMEs and as a shareholder.”
Founded by Fergal Meegan and Barry Murphy, both former investment bankers, Assiduous is headquartered at NovaUCD, the University College Dublin hub for early-stage innovation companies.
Its long-term ambition is to democratise access to capital markets by offering SMEs anywhere the tools to become "funding-ready" - a historically complex and expensive process that often involves multiple intermediaries and professional advisors.
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments