Danish AI agent startups are closing the gap on the US AI lead

Danish and European AI startups are gaining ground on the US by focusing on the application layer: turning the technology into specialised products that change how companies work day to day. That means integrating AI into complex workflows, existing systems and regulated industries, according to Magnus Stagsted, who is responsible for People Ventures' investment in the startup Plinto.

Andreas Green Rasmussen, co-founder and partner at Ugly Duckling Ventures, says the same trend holds in the Danish market. His firm took part in a funding round for Pentimenti.ai, a startup that has built an AI-driven platform to cut the time spent on tender processes.

Rasmussen is worried about access to raw computing power for AI, which Denmark and the rest of Europe lack. On practical AI solutions, for example for business customers, he is far more optimistic. He argues that at the application level, with companies like Plinto as examples, Danes and Europeans are very far ahead and keeping pace, exactly as a McKinsey analysis concludes.

The picture the two investors give is of a split: Europe is held back by infrastructure and compute, but is competitive where AI is built into specific business uses. The source does not give further detail on the McKinsey analysis, funding amounts or Plinto's product.