NestAI Secures €100M and Partners With Nokia to Lead Europe’s Physical AI

Finland’s emerging AI startup NestAI has captured significant attention after securing €100 million (about $115 million) in new funding and unveiling a strategic partnership with Nokia to advance artificial intelligence for defense and autonomous systems. The round, led by Finland’s sovereign wealth fund Tesi alongside Nokia, signals a major vote of confidence in the company’s mission to build AI technologies that can be deployed in unmanned vehicles, autonomous operations, and critical command-and-control platforms (TechCrunch; Startup News; Yahoo Finance). These efforts center on what NestAI calls “physical AI,” a rapidly expanding area of research focused on applying large language models and related technologies to robotics and real-world autonomous systems.

Co-founder Peter Sarlin announced the funding at the Slush 2025 conference in Helsinki, emphasizing that the investment will support the creation of “Europe’s leading physical AI lab,” a facility intended to accelerate innovation at the intersection of AI, robotics, and defense technology (TechCrunch; Yahoo Finance). As geopolitical tensions in Europe continue, shaped largely by the prolonged Ukraine-Russia war, regional demand has grown for homegrown technologies that strengthen defense capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign systems. NestAI’s expansion reflects this broader push for technological sovereignty. The company recently confirmed that it will help the Finnish Defense Forces integrate AI into their operations, underscoring the national-security relevance of its work (TechCrunch; Yahoo Finance).

The startup’s partnership with Nokia marks a pivotal part of this strategy. Together, the two companies plan to develop advanced AI products for defense applications, combining Nokia’s deep hardware expertise with NestAI’s focus on next-generation AI models designed for physical environments (Startup News; Yahoo Finance). Sarlin noted that this collaboration supports Europe’s long-term defense readiness and aligns with the mission of his family office, PostScriptum, which has been funding the venture through its stealth phase. He described NestAI’s goals as central to strengthening Europe’s capacity to build and control key technologies domestically, especially those tied to defense and autonomy (TechCrunch; Yahoo Finance).

Despite the ambitious scope of the project, NestAI has yet to appoint a CEO. Sarlin himself will not take on that role, as he continues his primary position at AMD following his successful sale of Silo AI to the chipmaker for $665 million last year (TechCrunch; Yahoo Finance). Instead, he will serve as NestAI’s chairman while the company recruits leadership and expands its technical team. Many of NestAI’s new hires bring specialized experience from major hardware and defense-focused organizations, including Intel, Kongsberg, Palantir, and Saab, backgrounds that reinforce the startup’s emphasis on highly technical, mission-critical systems (TechCrunch; Yahoo Finance).

The rapid rise of physical AI has drawn increasing interest across both Big Tech and the European startup ecosystem, with companies racing to build systems that can interact with and respond to the physical world more safely and autonomously. NestAI’s trajectory positions it as a key player in defining how Europe approaches this shift. With substantial financial backing, a major industrial partner, and a growing team of experts from top defense-related firms, the company is now moving from stealth operations into a more public phase, one where its innovations may help reshape how nations build and deploy autonomous defense technologies (TechCrunch; Startup News; Yahoo Finance).

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“Finland’s NestAI Lands €100M, Partners with Nokia to Build AI for Defense Applications.” Startup News, 20 Nov. 2025, https://startupnews.fyi/2025/11/20/finlands-nestai-lands-e100m-partners-with-nokia-to-build-ai-for-defense-applications/.

“Finland’s NestAI Lands €100M, Partners with Nokia to Build AI for Defense Applications.” Yahoo Finance, 20 Nov. 2025, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/finland-nestai-lands-100m-partners-130411392.html.

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