Wakeline Raises €2.1 Million Pre-Seed to scale Continuous-Learning AI

Today, every AI model still works the same way: a large model is trained on historical data, deployed, and then updated at intervals. Yet all of these models share the same structural flaw: they cannot learn autonomously. This is where Wakeline's continuous-learning principle comes in, building systems that keep learning during live operation and stay connected to the environment in which they run. Wakeline's biologically inspired architecture closes this gap. Training and application are interwoven instead of running in separate phases, turning learning into a real-time process. The architecture is deliberately designed to run without dependence on US hyperscalers or proprietary models.

he significance of this approach grows with the complexity of the environments in which AI is deployed. Wakeline's first production application lies in real-time forecasting for European energy markets: systems that adapt continuously to market shifts rather than needing to be retrained periodically. Beyond that, the technology is already showing promise in industrial manufacturing environments and in neurological research, for example in the early detection of Parkinson's disease.

"Most AI investments today are bets on better models within the same architecture. Wakeline questions the architecture itself, and that is the rarer and more interesting approach," says Dr Ansgar Schleicher, Managing Partner at TechVision Fonds. "Continuously adaptive systems solve a problem the industry has simply accepted until now: that AI is always one step behind reality."

The funding will go towards further developing the platform, intensifying its go-to-market efforts, and continuing to expand the team.

"What convinced us was the combination of scientific substance and a team that knows exactly which industrial problem it wants to solve first," adds Jan Jeske, Partner at neoteq ventures. "We're investing because we believe Europe needs its own architectures for the next generation of AI."

Founded in 2025 by Tim Gülke, PhD, Jan Böggering, Simon Sprünker and Merten Tiedemann, PhD, Wakeline is a German deep-tech company developing continuously adaptive AI systems inspired by biological principles. Its technology enables machines, infrastructure and digital systems to learn directly from their environment and adapt in real time. The approach can be applied across industries, with current applications in real-time forecasting for dynamic markets, in industrial manufacturing environments and in neurological research.

TechVision Fonds (TVF) is the leading early-stage VC fund from the Rhineland/NRW with a focus on technology start-ups in the pre-seed to Series A phases. TVF focuses on outstanding teams from the region, including the neighboring Netherlands and Belgium. The TVF management has experience from four fund generations and currently has over € 100 million in assets under management. The fund is backed by strong investors such as NRW.BANK, seven savings banks from western NRW and more than 15 successful entrepreneurs.

The TVF supports start-up teams with proximity, network and expertise and paves the way for them to become the next international industry leader. Through the network of the S-UBG Group, the TVF offers unique access to over 150 successful companies in various industries and establishes contacts between start-ups and their first customers, partners and advisors.

neoteq ventures is a venture capital firm founded in Cologne in 2020 that invests in technology-driven startups from (pre-)seed through to Series A. The fund supports exceptional founding teams in building scalable tech companies that lastingly transform their industries