Granter, a Portuguese startup that uses artificial intelligence to help companies secure public funding, has raised €1.6 million to push beyond its home market. The round was led by 3XP Global and brings the company's total funding to €2 million.
The fresh capital is earmarked for expansion into Spain, Germany and Italy, with the United States pencilled in as a medium-term target. Granter also intends to more than double its headcount before the end of the year, according to a report by shattered.io, which drew on coverage from Tech.eu.
Who Backed the Round
3XP Global led the investment through its Impact Innovation Fund. That fund operates under the Venture Capital Programme of Portugal's Capitalisation and Resilience Fund, known as FdCR, which is managed by the public development bank Banco Português de Fomento.
Other participants include Celtis Venture Partners, Gateway Ventures, the global payroll and hiring company Deel, and Bracken Darrell, the chief executive of VF Corporation and former CEO of Logitech.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Reporting on the round does not include a valuation, ownership details or the type of financial instrument used.
What Granter's Platform Does
Granter describes its product as an AI grant consultant. The software covers three stages of the funding process: identifying relevant opportunities, preparing applications and managing projects once money has been awarded.
That end-to-end approach sets it apart from tools that only help with discovery and leave the drafting and post-award reporting to staff or outside consultants. A matching feature called QuickMatch, aimed at helping companies spot EU grants, was introduced publicly in November 2025.
According to the company's own materials, more than €1 million in funding applications had been submitted through the platform by March 2024. Granter has not published figures on success rates, customer numbers or revenue.
The Problem the Founders Want to Solve
Granter was founded in 2023 by CEO Bernardo Seixas and Bernardo Tavares, who is identified as CTO in at least one source. Seixas has framed the business around fairer access to public money, arguing that many companies with strong projects miss out because they lack the time, staff or expertise to navigate complex bureaucratic processes.
"Granter exists to change that," Seixas said in the funding announcement.
The pitch targets a familiar pain point in Europe, where programmes such as Horizon Europe and the European Innovation Council Accelerator each come with their own deadlines, eligibility rules and reporting obligations. Larger firms often employ specialists to handle this work, while smaller businesses may skip opportunities altogether.
Building on a High-Profile Pitch Win
The raise follows a notable moment of visibility. In November 2025, Granter won the PITCH competition at Web Summit, where the field was drawn from 2,725 startups and the company reportedly earned an 80% approval rate in the public vote.
Recognition of that kind can help a young company build trust with investors and with customers who must share sensitive financial and business data to apply for grants.
Why Expansion Will Take More Than Translation
Spain, Germany and Italy are the first international markets on Granter's list, though the company has not publicly explained the order. All three have large small-business populations that draw on both EU and national funding schemes.
Entering new countries is demanding for a grant tool. Each market brings its own programmes, languages, regional agencies and accounting rules, and the platform's models need to stay current with national funding calls. The plan to more than double the workforce suggests Granter expects local expertise, not just software, to drive growth.
A move into the United States would be a larger step, given that American grant funding runs through federal agencies and private foundations, and the market already has established grant-writing tools.
What the Deal Signals for Founders and the Sector
Granter's round is modest by AI standards, but it shows investor appetite for narrowly focused applications that tackle costly administrative work. Notably, a company built to help others access public money has itself been backed partly through a state-supported venture programme.
For small businesses, tools like this could lower the cost of applying for grants and widen the pool of applicants. For Granter, the next test will be proving results in new markets, with customer numbers and win rates likely to matter more than any additional country announcements.
Source: shattered.io
