Palette Raises €3M Pre-Seed to Make Switching AI Models Seamless

Palette Raises €3 Million Pre-Seed to Build Model-Neutral AI Infrastructure

Copenhagen-based AI startup Palette has raised €3 million in pre-seed funding to help companies maintain control of their AI context while using different AI models and agents.

The round was led by Ugly Duckling Ventures, with participation from Emblem, Acadian Ventures, and several angel investors.

Building a Model-Neutral AI Layer

Palette is developing infrastructure designed to let companies use different AI agents without becoming dependent on a single AI model provider.

The company's newly launched Palette Desktop allows teams to use AI agents including Claude Code, Codex, Mistral, and Gemini directly on files stored in:

• Google Drive

• OneDrive

• Dropbox

The platform is designed to allow teams to work collaboratively on shared folders while using different AI agents at the same time.

Keeping Company Context Independent

Palette's core thesis is that companies should maintain ownership of their business context instead of storing critical workflows and information within a single AI model ecosystem.

As AI models continue to become more capable, companies may want the flexibility to switch between providers based on performance, pricing, or specific use cases.

Palette aims to make that transition easier by keeping company context durable and making the underlying AI model effectively interchangeable.

Founding Team and Growth

Palette was founded in 2025 by Brian Kyed, Lars Ettrup, Steffen D. Sommer, and Christian Lomholt.

Kyed previously spent around a decade building his previous startup before returning to early-stage company building.

The company currently has eight employees, including its four founders, and plans to grow its team to approximately 10 employees using the new funding.

From Design Partners to Paying Customers

Palette has already been working with a small group of design partners using its platform on a daily basis.

The new funding will be used primarily to convert these early users into paying customers and expand adoption of the platform.

Investors Back the Context Layer

Ugly Duckling Ventures led the financing, with Emblem, Acadian Ventures, and angel investors also participating.

Andreas Green Rasmussen, a partner at Ugly Duckling Ventures, described Palette as a strong founding team focused on becoming an operating layer for companies adopting AI across their organizations.

The Context Management Opportunity

Palette is positioning itself within the emerging market for AI context management.

The company identifies several potential areas for context infrastructure, including:

• Codebase context for engineering agents

• Financial and business-data context

• Context surrounding how work moves between people within companies

Palette is primarily focused on the latter, aiming to help organizations preserve context as AI agents increasingly become part of everyday workflows.

Leadership

Palette was founded by Brian Kyed, Lars Ettrup, Steffen D. Sommer, and Christian Lomholt and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The company plans to use its new capital to expand its team and convert its early design-partner users into paying customers.

As companies adopt multiple AI models and agents, Palette is betting that durable company context and model flexibility will become an important part of AI-native workplace infrastructure.