Key Ward AI Hub 1M investment

Key Ward get €1M pre-seed to solve ‘PoC to production’ challenge

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Key Ward, a deeptech company in engineering data management and AI adoption, has emerged from stealth mode with €1 million in pre-seed funding, led by Swedish venture capital firm Wellstreet.

Key Ward offers two initial products, Hub and Flow. Hub is a no-code SaaS platform that enables engineering teams to integrate AI and manage complex data without requiring coding skills or in-house development. Flow enables machine learning solutions developed specifically for engineers.

By leveraging AI, Key Ward says the platform enables users to extract and structure complex datasets from historical simulations, creating custom AI models that can predict design performance in seconds.

“This contrasts sharply with traditional, resource-intensive simulations that can take days,” said a spokesperson. “This capability not only accelerates the design process but also addresses the critical challenge of moving from proof of concept to operational production, helping to avoid the common pitfalls of the ‘PoC graveyard’.”

The idea for the company originated when CEO Hoss Habib, a former Porsche aerodynamics engineer, recognised the inefficiencies and high costs associated with traditional car simulations and wind tunnel testing.

Motivated to find a better solution, he teamed up with Maxime Bunel, and fellow engineers Asparuh Stoyanov, and Lyuben Vodenicharov to create Key Ward. The team has since successfully piloted the technology within both the automotive and aerospace industries, demonstrating its transformative potential.

The €1 million pre-seed investment in Key Ward, led by the Stockholm-based venture capital firm Wellstreet, was joined in the round by industry figures with connections to global software giants, notably Andy Fine (DS Simulia, Altair & Neural Concept), Edouard Lété (DS Simulia, Siemens) and Eric Saint Frison (Ford).

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The company says it will use the funds to scale its technology internationally and establish itself as the industry leader and go-to platform for engineers looking to make their designs better and faster.

“At Key Ward, we believe that managing data is the key to successful AI. AI should be accessible to all engineers, not just data scientists. Our platform empowers teams across industries to integrate AI seamlessly into their workflows, reducing complexity, costs, and time,” said Habib. “Whether in automotive, aerospace, or even bio-medicine, our solver-agnostic solution allows engineers to focus on innovation while maintaining full control over their data and AI models.”