The group behind Shop Circle launches Circeus as its holding company brand, backed by a new equity investment from the EBRD. Shop Circle continues as the group\u2019s retail and commerce software division. The investment will accelerate the deployment of AI across the portfolio and fund the continued acquisition of the software businesses that power the everyday economy.<\/em><\/p>\n LONDON, June 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — \u00a0<\/strong>Circeus<\/u><\/a>, the AI-native holding company for mission-critical software, today announced its launch alongside an equity investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD<\/u><\/a>), with participation from other investors.<\/p>\n The launch introduces Circeus as the group’s holding company brand, reflecting the broader B2B software portfolio the group now operates with AI embedded throughout. The investment will help scale the group\u2019s central AI engineering capability and support continued acquisitions.<\/p>\n The AI-native holding company<\/strong><\/p>\n Circeus has completed 18 acquisitions over the last four years and serves more than 200,000 businesses worldwide. The group is scaling profitably and is adding more revenue this year than in the previous two years combined, with further acquisitions expected to complete over the coming months.<\/p>\n From strategy to results<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the past three years, AI has moved from experimentation to scaled deployment across the portfolio. Today, this is visible in performance:<\/p>\n These outcomes are consistent across multiple businesses, demonstrating a repeatable model that improves product performance, operational efficiency and post-acquisition EBITDA, rather than isolated successes.<\/p>\n A compounding model, with AI as the operating system<\/strong><\/p>\n Circeus grows through a repeatable model: selectively acquiring software businesses and connecting them to a central AI capability, with agents and skills built once and deployed across the portfolio. Post-acquisition, Circeus embeds AI into products, automates operations, and reuses infrastructure, data, and insights across the group.<\/p>\n Each improvement compounds, creating a structural advantage difficult for standalone software businesses to replicate. AI is not a layer added on top of each product; it is the operating system of the group, moving software from systems of record to systems of action, and turning tasks into outcomes.<\/p>\n A permanent home for founders<\/strong><\/p>\n Founders who sell to Circeus get a permanent home for their business: brands, teams, and customer relationships are preserved, while the group brings AI engineering, growth expertise, and centralised back-office support.<\/p>\n What they said<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAs AI evolves software from passive tools into systems that act and execute, the addressable market for technology is expanding several-fold. We are building the platform to capture this shift. We were not running a fundraising process, as we are profitable and well capitalised, but we chose to make space for EBRD given their institutional standing and to lean further into a market that presents several attractive opportunities,\u201d said Luca Cartechini, Founder and CEO of Circeus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross different businesses, we have proven that evolving a product into its AI-native form can drive a step-change in the market it can address. The hard part is doing this repeatedly, and that is what we have built: a central engineering capability that turns each transformation into a foundation for the next,\u201d said Gian Maria Gramondi, Founder and COO of Circeus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWith more than $220m of total capital raised to date, we have substantial firepower to deploy in a highly attractive acquisition environment, with several deals expected to complete over the coming months. Deal after deal, we are proving a repeatable operating model that drives EBITDA uplift and strong returns across the assets we acquire and operate,\u201d said Robin Hardt, CFO of Circeus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are backing a team bringing AI to the essential software that businesses across our regions rely on every day, and Circeus\u2019s compounding model aligns closely with EBRD\u2019s long-term mandate. The market for bringing AI to the real economy is enormous, and we look forward to supporting Circeus, alongside a strong group of investors, across the journey,\u201d said Bruno Lusic, Investor at EBRD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n EBRD\u2019s long-term perspective aligns with Circeus\u2019s approach to building compounding platforms over decades, not quarters. The investment brings the group\u2019s total equity raised to more than $120m and total capital raised to more than $220m, with backing from NFX<\/u><\/a>, QED Investors<\/u><\/a>, Nextalia<\/u><\/a>, 645 Ventures<\/u><\/a>, 3VC<\/u><\/a>, Endeavor Catalyst<\/u><\/a>, CDP Venture Capital<\/u><\/a>, alongside a $100m+ credit facility from i80 Group<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the pace of AI innovation, adoption across the real economy remains early. Only around one in five enterprises in Europe and the US currently report using AI. [1]<\/p>\n Circeus exists to help close the AI adoption gap by embedding frontier capabilities into the mission-critical software that businesses depend on. The everyday economy runs on software that moves goods, powers commerce and supports specialist industries. Circeus believes AI compounds most where domain knowledge runs deepest, making vertical software, with its proprietary workflows and data, central to the group\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n The next generation of platforms will execute work, not just provide tools, and that shift is already underway.<\/p>\n About Circeus<\/strong><\/p>\n Circeus is the AI-native holding company for mission-critical software. The group acquires and evolves vertical software businesses that power the everyday economy, embedding AI through its central engineering team to move software from systems of record to systems of action. Circeus operates from London, Milan and Sarajevo. Shop Circle, its commerce software division, serves retailers, wholesalers and brands worldwide.<\/p>\n About EBRD<\/strong><\/p>\n The EBRD is one of the world\u2019s leading multilateral development banks, with a portfolio of approximately \u20ac62 billion and more than \u20ac220 billion invested since 1991 across over 7,800 projects. The Bank also has dedicated equity capabilities, supporting private-sector growth, innovation and sustainable development across its regions.<\/p>\n Notes to editors<\/strong><\/p>\n [1] Sources: Eurostat, \u201c20% of EU enterprises use AI technologies\u201d: https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/web\/products-eurostat-news\/w\/ddn-20251211-2<\/a>; Both reports indicate business AI usage of approximately 20% in the EU and 17\u201320% in the US.<\/strong><\/p>\n The group behind Shop Circle launches Circeus as its holding company brand, backed by a new equity investment from the EBRD. Shop Circle continues as the group\u2019s retail and commerce software division. The investment will accelerate the deployment of AI across the portfolio and fund the continued acquisition of the software businesses that power the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":419901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ml-eu.globenewswire.com\/Resource\/Download\/ae35cde3-0d5b-498a-abe6-4bafa5148b41","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-globenewswire"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
US Census Bureau, \u201cAI Use at U.S. Businesses\u201d: https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/stories\/2026\/05\/ai-use-businesses.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ml-eu.globenewswire.com\/media\/ZDczMGYxYWItZWVmZS00NTU2LWE1MTEtODExNGIwN2UyZTVlLTcwMDAyNzg4My0yMDI2LTA2LTI5LWVu\/tiny\/Circeus.png\")
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