Deepslate, a Brandenburg-based AI lab, has raised €7.7 million in seed funding to advance its speech-to-speech AI models, which recorded a 440-millisecond response time in an independent benchmark. The round was led by 42CAP, with participation from Alstin Capital and existing investor SIVentures.
TL;DR
- Deepslate secures €7.7M seed funding to advance its speech-to-speech AI models.
- The company's models are built and hosted entirely in Europe, addressing data sovereignty concerns.
- The new capital will fund expanded model training, a German-language data program, and growth in sales and marketing.
What happened
Deepslate, an AI model lab headquartered in Templin, Brandenburg, has raised €7.7 million in seed funding. The round was led by 42CAP, with participation from Alstin Capital, existing investor SIVentures, and several business angels.
The company develops end-to-end speech-to-speech AI models that process spoken language directly, reducing latency and preserving tone, emphasis, and dialect. Its system combines an in-house speech encoder, a reasoning core built on an open-weights language model post-trained for European languages, and a speech decoder that generates the spoken reply.
According to the company, its model recorded a 440-millisecond response time in an independent Artificial Analysis benchmark, the fastest speech-to-speech result measured as of September 2026. It also posted the best error rate for European languages in the CoVoST2 comparison.
Why it matters
Deepslate's focus on European data sovereignty is a core requirement for its customers, with all hosting inside the EU and self-hosting available. This is particularly relevant in light of increasing data protection regulations in Europe.
The new capital will fund expanded model training, a German-language data program covering street names, personal names, and dialects, and growth in sales, marketing, and European production infrastructure. This could position Deepslate as a strong competitor in the European AI market.
The company's technology is already being used in production by insurers, contact centers, and platforms. This indicates a strong market demand for its speech-to-speech AI models.
Key facts
- Deepslate raised €7.7 million in seed funding.
- The round was led by 42CAP, with participation from Alstin Capital, SIVentures, and several business angels.
- The company's models are built and hosted entirely in Europe.
- Deepslate's model recorded a 440-millisecond response time in an independent benchmark, the fastest speech-to-speech result measured as of September 2026.
- The model posted the best error rate for European languages in the CoVoST2 comparison.
- The new capital will fund expanded model training, a German-language data program, and growth in sales and marketing.
- Deepslate's technology is already being used in production by insurers, contact centers, and platforms.
Context
Deepslate's focus on European data sovereignty is particularly relevant in light of increasing data protection regulations in Europe. The company's models are built and hosted entirely in Europe, addressing these concerns.
The company's technology is already being used in production by insurers, contact centers, and platforms. This indicates a strong market demand for its speech-to-speech AI models.
Deepslate's models are designed to reduce latency and preserve tone, emphasis, and dialect. This could make them particularly useful in applications where these factors are important, such as customer service and healthcare.
