AI startup targeting fraud and crime secures €2.2 million

Dutch GovTech startup Avendar has closed a €2.2 million seed funding round to accelerate the development of its AI platform for criminal and fraud investigations, the company announced today. The round was led by venture capital firm LUMO Labs and the Brabant Development Agency (BOM), with prior support having come from Rabobank's Innovation Loan program, the Brabant Startup Fund, and the BIM Startersfonds.

Founded in Eindhoven, Avendar builds end-to-end AI software that helps public institutions transform large volumes of fragmented data into actionable intelligence. Its platform automates data analysis and signal detection, allowing investigators to significantly reduce manual work while improving the speed, scale, and quality of their operations.

The funding comes at a time when European governments are under mounting pressure to modernize their investigative capabilities. Public institutions across the continent continue to rely on largely manual processes, even as fraud and cybercrime grow more sophisticated and widespread. At the same time, there is increasing political and regulatory demand for AI solutions that are sovereign — built and operated within Europe, under European law.

"We believe Europe needs its own sovereign infrastructure for critical investigations and intelligence," said Marijn van Aerle, Co-Founder of Avendar. "Currently, organizations are far too often solving their most critical problems with outdated software. This needs to change."

Tracking fraud and crime

Avendar is already gaining meaningful traction in the Dutch public sector. Its platform is deployed by the Dutch National Police and the Municipality of Amsterdam, following successful pilots and ongoing implementations run through programs with the Ministry of Justice and Safety. Use cases include criminal investigations and Bibob screening — a Dutch administrative screening process used to prevent government licenses and subsidies from facilitating organized crime.

For LUMO Labs, the investment reflects confidence in both the team and the market opportunity. "With strong execution in complex public sector environments and a team that combines technical depth with domain expertise, we believe Avendar is well positioned to reshape and improve investigations across Europe," said Andy Lurling, Founding Partner at LUMO Labs.

Robin Hendrickx, Team Lead and Senior Investment Manager at BOM, echoed that view: "This team has the right experience and drive to solve a real problem — turning large volumes of public data into actionable intelligence for governments. Helping public organizations respond to threats faster means directly contributing to a safer society."

Law-enforcement AI tools

Avendar plans to use the fresh capital to grow its engineering and product teams and further develop its AI capabilities and platform scalability. The company will also step up its commercial push across Europe, targeting public institutions looking to modernize their investigative infrastructure in an increasingly complex threat environment.

The raise positions Avendar among a growing cohort of European startups seeking to bring purpose-built, compliant AI tools to government and law enforcement — a sector that has historically been slow to adopt new technology but is now accelerating fast.