Enterprise adoption of AI has been plagued by failure, with a recent MIT NANDA report revealing that 95% of generative AI pilots collapse before scaling. Spanish–American startup Maisa AI believes it has the answer—and investors agree. The company has just raised $25 million in seed funding, led by European VC firm Creandum, to accelerate its mission of making enterprise AI reliable.
Founded in 2024 by David Villalón and Manuel Romero, Maisa AI is built on the premise that automation requires accountable AI agents rather than opaque black-box systems. Its new product, Maisa Studio, allows organizations to design, train, and deploy digital workers using natural language. Unlike simple prompt-driven platforms, Maisa says its method, called “chain-of-work,” ensures that AI creates processes rather than just responses.
To prevent hallucinations and unreliable outputs, the startup has engineered two key innovations:
- HALP (Human-Augmented LLM Processing): A system where users supervise AI “like students at a blackboard,” ensuring transparency and traceability.
- Knowledge Processing Unit (KPU): A deterministic engine that reduces errors and boosts accountability in critical workflows.
Enterprise-First Strategy
Maisa AI’s early adopters include a major bank, automotive manufacturers, and energy firms, all of which require trustworthy automation for sensitive operations. The platform can run either on Maisa’s secure cloud or on on-premise deployments, a feature attractive to regulated industries.
This enterprise-first approach sets Maisa apart from “vibe-coding” platforms like Cursor and Lovable, which focus on individual or developer-first adoption. With dual headquarters in Valencia and San Francisco, the startup is strategically positioned to expand across Europe and the U.S.
Its funding history includes a $5 million pre-seed round in December 2024, led by San Francisco-based NFX and Village Global. The latest round also brought in Forgepoint Capital International, via its partnership with Banco Santander, signaling strong interest from investors in regulated sectors.
Scaling for Growth
Maisa AI currently employs 35 staff but plans to nearly double its team to 65 by Q1 2026 to meet growing demand. CEO Villalón said the company is preparing to onboard clients from a growing waitlist by late 2025:
“We are going to show the market that there is a company delivering what has been promised—and that it’s working.”
By targeting complex, high-stakes enterprise use cases, Maisa hopes to redefine robotic process automation (RPA) with AI agents that are transparent, auditable, and adaptable. As businesses grow wary of unreliable generative AI pilots, Maisa’s funding positions it as a leader in the AI accountability race.
