Funding round and grant
Norwegian AI startup Jenz announced a €540,000 pre-seed funding round on 21 October 2026. The round included investment from venture capital firms Antler and Ada Ventures.
Alongside the pre-seed round, the company secured a NOK 1 million (€92,000) startup grant from Innovation Norway.
Software for retail operations
Jenz develops an AI-powered platform that connects data across disconnected systems used by retailers, including online stores, point-of-sale platforms, inventory management tools, accounting applications, and marketing software. The technology aggregates this information into a single layer for an AI agent to process.
The platform enables retail businesses to automate operational tasks, analyze sales and inventory data, forecast demand, and review pricing and marketing strategies. The system monitors operations and notifies staff when decisions are required.
Remi Bjørnestad, co-founder and chief executive officer, said that generic AI tools struggle with large volumes of store data and require users to start from scratch each time. He noted that when AI makes financial decisions, it must act on real and trusted data.
International expansion and company history
Jenz plans to use the new funding to expand beyond the Nordic region, targeting a launch in the UK within the next nine months.
The company was founded by Remi Bjørnestad (CEO), Jo Schou Sandåker (chief technology officer), and Natnael Belete Seifo (chief commercial officer). Jenz emerged after winning the Norway AI Hackathon in Mandal in June, an event organized by Ada Ventures and Startuplab. Ada Ventures became the startup's first investor after the event.
The team originally operated in Kristiansand before relocating to Oslo to join Antler's residency programme.
Pilot customer usage
Jenz began onboarding pilot customers in late August, working alongside online stores and retailers operating multiple physical locations. Pilot users assigned over 3,000 tasks to the platform across more than 20 back-office systems.
The startup stated that some pilot clients saved up to 100 hours of work in their first month, while one retailer reported a 31 per cent increase in team capacity.