European data infrastructure startup Custodea has raised €350,000 to help small and medium-sized businesses regain control of their data as dependence on major cloud and software providers grows.
The startup is building a European data lake that brings information from different business software into one secure environment, allowing SMEs to store, search and analyze their data without relying entirely on individual SaaS providers.
Custodea argues that smaller businesses often lack the resources to build enterprise-grade data infrastructure themselves, leaving them vulnerable to vendor lock-in and foreign technology providers.
Custodea’s model keeps business data hosted in Europe and makes it AI-ready, positioning the startup within Europe’s broader push to build independent digital infrastructure.
For founders in Europe, cheaper access to secure, locally controlled data infrastructure could lower barriers to AI adoption and help grow businesses scale without handing greater control of their data to dominant technology platforms.
