Innovative Fintech Startup Secures €1.8 Million to Revolutionize AI-Driven Financial Systems
Believe, an emerging fintech enterprise headquartered in Estonia and co-founded by South African entrepreneur Alec Erasmus, has successfully raised €1.8 million in pre-seed funding. This capital injection is earmarked for the creation of a cutting-edge programmable operating system tailored specifically for AI-native companies. The funding round was spearheaded by Practica Capital, with additional backing from Antler, a consortium of angel investors including Johan Pietila and Martin Olofsson, as well as advisors affiliated with leading platforms such as Revolut and Crypto.com.
Transforming Financial Infrastructure for AI-Centric Startups
Established just under a year ago by Erasmus and Brazilian-born entrepreneur Gabriel Ferraz, Believe has rapidly gained momentum, generating over €930,000 in annual revenue without employing a dedicated sales team-operated solely by its two founders. The company’s flagship solution targets lean, globally distributed startups that operate on AI-driven workflows, providing them with programmable tools to streamline global payments and automate revenue management.
“Artificial intelligence is democratizing entrepreneurship, yet financial infrastructure remains outdated,” explains Ferraz. “Small, international teams require scalable, programmable financial solutions-not legacy enterprise systems designed for a different era.” Believe’s platform supports both fiat currencies and stablecoin transactions, featuring innovative capabilities such as Revenue Splits, which enable automatic distribution of income among contributors, sales channels, or product lines.
Addressing Operational Challenges in Emerging Markets
Believe’s platform has already made significant inroads in emerging economies by alleviating operational inefficiencies caused by manual reconciliations and antiquated financial tools. By automating these processes, the company helps startups reduce friction and accelerate growth.
Arvydas Blocke, Partner at Practica Capital, highlights the company’s vision: “Believe is constructing the orchestration layer for a new breed of organizations-small, agile teams collaborating with autonomous workflows and distributed contributors from day one.”
Leveraging South African and Global Fintech Expertise
Alec Erasmus brings extensive experience from his tenure leading KYC infrastructure at Adyen and developing backend systems for cryptocurrency brokerages. His co-founder, Gabriel Ferraz, previously scaled a crypto payments platform to an impressive €180 million in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in Brazil before relocating to the Baltic region.
Believe anticipates a surge in programmable organizations-startups embedded with automated workflows encompassing compliance, finance, and contributor management. The company plans to broaden its market reach, enhance its compliance framework, and develop programmable APIs designed to automate revenue processing, taxation, KYC, and embedded financial services.
Supporting the Future of Decentralized Digital Entrepreneurship
Tobias Bengtsdahl, Partner at Antler, emphasizes the strategic importance of Believe’s mission: “As company formation becomes increasingly decentralized and global, infrastructure like Believe’s is essential to empower digital entrepreneurs.”
With the fintech landscape rapidly evolving, Believe is poised to become a pivotal player in enabling AI-native startups to operate with unprecedented financial agility and automation.
