AI-Native Engineering Firm Solvera Raises $6.3M to Rewire Construction

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-15

### Solvera's $6.3 Million Bet: AI That Actually Does the Engineering What if an engineering firm didn't just use AI—what if it was built around it from day one? That's the question Oslo-based Solvera is answering with a fresh $6.3 million pre-Seed round, announced just months after its July 2026 launch. The round was led by Seedcamp, with participation from Construct Venture, Inception Fund, Momentum, Obos Ventures, PSV Tech, Sondo, and The Nordic Web Ventures. Angel investors include Spacemaker founders Anders Kvåle and Håvard Haukeland—names that carry weight in the construction tech world. ### The Problem: Engineers Buried in Busywork Pål Rasmussen, co-founder and CTO, puts it plainly: "The most valuable thing in building engineering has always been the engineer's judgement, yet much of their day goes to sorting a constant stream of information and changes, manual data entry, and coordination." That's the reality for most MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) engineers. They juggle hundreds of requirements, wrestle with dozens of legacy tools, and constantly adapt designs as projects shift. It's fragmented, repetitive, and ripe for reinvention. ### Not Another Tool—A Whole New Kind of Firm Solvera isn't selling software licenses. It's an engineering firm of record, delivering end-to-end design services. Clients pay for outcomes, not billable hours. Here's how it works: - AI agents handle the heavy lifting: testing alternatives, coordinating systems, and producing construction-ready designs. - Human engineers provide judgement, stepping in for high-impact decisions. - The system learns from every project, turning judgement into reusable intelligence. As CEO Arif Mirza explains, "We've had twenty years of better building engineering software, and now AI, but productivity and the fundamental way engineering gets delivered has barely changed." He adds, "That is why we decided not to build yet another tool for engineers that doesn't move the needle. We are building the engineering firm itself around AI." ### Traction That Speaks for Itself Since launching in July 2026, Solvera has already: - Booked nearly $1 million in contracted revenue in its first three months. - Grown to a team of nine. - Worked on several building projects in Norway, including commercial work with Betonmast, a leading Norwegian contractor. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its engineering and technology team in Oslo. ### Why Investors Are Betting Big Tom Wilson, Partner at Seedcamp, didn't mince words: "We invested in Solvera because Arif, Thorvald and Pål are not just building software for engineers, they are rebuilding the firm itself. That is a much bigger swing, and a much better one." He added, "Construction has absorbed two decades of tooling without shifting how the work actually gets delivered or paid for. Solvera is the first team we have seen with the technical depth and industry experience to close that gap." ### The Bigger Picture Solvera's approach challenges the traditional professional services model. Instead of scaling headcount, it scales intelligence. Each project makes the system smarter, creating a flywheel that could redefine how engineering—and eventually other professional services—gets delivered. For an industry that's been slow to change, that's not just a new startup. It's a signal of what's coming next.