Zerve Raises $7.6M to Maximise AI & Data Business Impact

• Cyber and secure AI investor Paladin Capital Group leads $7.6M investment in Irish data science and AI development platform
• Zerve reached 4,000 signups in just three months following its product launch in February, and is now used by data teams in major organizations around the world

05.00 BST, 17 Oct 2024 - Tipperary, Ireland - Zerve, the data science and AI development platform that empowers code-first data teams to cut cycle times by up to 9x, announced today that it has raised a seed round of $7.6M, led by Paladin Capital Group, with participation from existing investor Elkstone and angels including former Executive Vice President of Engineering at DataRobot, Rob Hickey.

[Link]Established in 2021, Zerve is on a mission to elevate the impact of AI and data workflows by providing a unique, developer-centric platform based on its filed-patent architecture that guarantees resilience and scalability.

Today, the efficiency and measurable impact of code-first data teams are becoming more scrutinized within enterprises. Many AI and data workflows that could have transformative effects on organizations do not leave the development stage. Those that do have to overcome many hurdles including deployment handovers to separate development and engineering teams, and issues with version control, reproducibility, and cloud infrastructure.

Zerve's end-to-end platform provides a robust environment that simplifies the building, managing and deployment of these workflows. By automating away the challenges and complexities that face code-first data teams, Zerve enables them to significantly reduce cycle times and maximise ROI. With features like automated infrastructure management, language interoperability, robust version controls, package management and deployment processes, Zerve is uniquely positioned to power the next wave of high-performing data teams to maximise their impact and reach their true potential.

Zerve raised $3.8m in pre-seed funding in October 2023 led by Elkstone, and commercially launched its product in February of this year. It has successfully onboarded elite code-first data teams in major organisations globally, with over 4,000 users signing up to its free product tier in just three months. The startup is led by three co-founders: Phily Hayes (CEO & Co-founder), formerly at LearnUpon; Jason Hilary (CTO & Co-founder), who brings AI/ML experience from Siren and Antares Vision; and Greg Michaelson (CPO & Co-founder) - previously Chief Customer Officer at DataRobot.

Zerve CEO Phily Hayes said: "The stick we measure ourselves by is how much more throughput the teams we're working with have been able to achieve, whether that is reducing their overall cycle time for projects or increasing their speed to recommendations. The speed at which data and AI projects run can sometimes feel like death by 1,000 cuts, so on-top of our 100% guaranteed, resilience-based architecture, we have cleared the path-to-output by removing the smaller hurdles that get in the way."

Ken Pentimonti, Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group added: "The limitations of current solutions have placed a big barrier in front of innovation at organizations seeking to realise the potential of data science and AI. Zerve's intuitive platform can release that potential and improve the safety and reliability of the software ultimately deployed. With spend on AI at $33Bn in 2023 in Europe alone, growing 30% per year, we are hugely excited about Zerve's prospects."

Zerve was advised by Capnua Corporate Finance and RDJ on the transaction.

About Zerve

Zerve is a data and AI startup designed for code-first data teams. Established in 2021 by Phily Hayes, Jason Hillary and Greg Michaelson, and headquartered in Limerick, Ireland.

Zerve offers a robust, end-to-end data science and AI platform empowering teams to increase their efficiency and measurable business impact. For more on Zerve, follow us on LinkedIn or visit us at https://www.zerve.ai/.

About Paladin Capital Group

Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC, New York, London, Luxembourg, and Silicon Valley. As a multi-stage investor, Paladin's core strength is identifying, supporting and investing in innovative companies that develop promising, early-stage technologies to address the critical cyber and advanced technological needs of both commercial and government customers.

Combining proven investment experience with deep expertise in global security, cyber technology and cutting-edge research, Paladin has invested in more than 80 companies since 2008 and has been a trusted partner to investors, entrepreneurs and governments for over two decades.

For more on Paladin Capital Group, follow us on X at @Paladincap and on LinkedIn or visit us at www.paladincapgroup.com.

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