Portuguese startup Granter has raised €1.6 million in a funding round to expand its AI-powered platform that simplifies access to European funding programmes. The round was led by 3XP Global through its Impact Innovation Fund, under the Venture Capital Programme of the Capitalisation and Resilience Fund (FdCR), managed by Portugal's state development bank, Banco Português de Fomento.

Other participants included Celtis Venture Partners, Gateway Ventures (backed by investors from Austria and Germany), US HR technology company Deel, and angel investor Bracken Darrell, CEO of VF Corporation and former CEO of Logitech. The latest round brings Granter's total funding to €2 million.

Granter develops an AI-powered platform designed to help businesses identify public funding opportunities, prepare applications and manage funded projects. The company focuses particularly on SMEs and startups, aiming to make European funding programmes more accessible to organisations that may lack the resources or expertise to navigate complex application processes.

Applying for public funding often involves extensive documentation, administrative requirements and lengthy preparation periods, creating barriers for smaller businesses. Granter aims to simplify these processes through AI-powered automation, reducing the time and resources required to prepare funding applications.

The company recently relaunched its AI Grant Consultant with a chat-based interface that allows organisations to interact directly with an AI agent to identify funding opportunities, prepare applications and manage approved projects. Granter has also introduced a free trial period, enabling users to begin preparing applications immediately.

According to the company, tasks that previously required weeks of work and often involved specialist consultants can now be completed in under an hour.

Granter won PITCH, Web Summit's startup competition, in November 2025. Since then, the company has supported more than 140 businesses in applications for over €30 million in funding. Its clients include ANA Airports, MC Sonae, Galp, the Portuguese Navy and Fidelidade.

Commenting on the investment, Bernardo Seixas, CEO and co-founder of Granter, said:

Today, thousands of companies with solid projects are left out of public funding, not for lack of merit, but because they do not have the time, the team or the knowledge to deal with complex, bureaucratic processes. Granter exists to change that. Our technology removes that barrier and democratises access to public funding, putting it within reach of those who generate jobs, innovation and impact in their communities.

The new capital will support further product development, team expansion and international growth.

Granter plans to more than double its workforce by the end of the year and expand beyond Portugal, which remains its primary market, into Spain, Germany and Italy, where it already has investors and initial commercial connections. The company also plans to enter the US market over the medium term.