Copenhagen-based startup Interhuman AI has raised €2 million in a pre-seed funding round to advance what it describes as the first social intelligence layer for AI systems. The investment was led by PSV Tech, a Nordic venture capital firm focused on ambitious AI founders, with participation from EIFO (Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), Antler, The Yope Foundation, and several angel investors from Ada Ventures.
The company’s mission is to build technology that can understand humans beyond words, by capturing the subtle but significant non-verbal cues that shape communication. By combining computer vision, audio analysis, psychology, and behavioural science, Interhuman AI translates raw inputs, from facial expressions and body language to voice tone, into contextual “social signals.”
For instance, the startup explains that while a smile combined with leaning forward could suggest engagement, the same smile paired with leaning back might signal something entirely different. The company says its social awareness module can be integrated into existing AI systems with only a few lines of code.
The technology has potential use cases across a variety of industries. In AI-powered training and coaching, social intelligence can help create more natural and personalised experiences tailored to each individual’s needs. Within digital health, the platform could deliver empathetic, real-time support.
In sales training, AI would be able to evaluate not just what trainees say but also how they say it – assessing qualities such as confidence, empathy, and clarity. In customer service, socially aware AI could respond to frustration, hesitation or other emotional cues.
While the global AI market is growing rapidly, Interhuman AI points out that most current systems overlook as much as 93% of non-verbal communication. Around half of the $757 billion global AI market revolves around human–AI interaction, and 40% of those interactions could benefit from systems capable of interpreting social signals.
Paula Petcu, co‑founder of Interhuman AI, comments, “The global AI market is growing fast. However, to realise the full potential of AI solutions, it needs to take into consideration all aspects of human behaviour. AI isn’t just about efficiency and workflow optimisation – it is about human interaction…. Without the solution that we are building, we think that AI developers will continue to struggle to deliver impactful solutions that allow for human‑AI understanding, resulting in failure and disappointment with what AI can do.”
The fresh funding will be used to develop a platform and API providing access to Interhuman AI’s socially aware AI core models, as well as to expand its team with additional AI engineers.
Alexander Viterbo‑Horten, Partner at PSV Tech, comments: “We’re only just beginning to see what happens when social intelligence is built into AI. This breakthrough has the potential to transform healthcare, education, and any sector where human‑AI interaction matters. Research already shows that automating behavioural coding with AI makes mental health diagnostics far more reliable, while avoiding the bias that comes with manual coding. Interhuman AI is leading this shift with rare technical depth, scientific rigour, and the ambition to unlock this frontier.”
He adds: “Interhuman AI is exactly the kind of technological breakthrough Europe needs. It shows that European founders can lead in frontier AI, while staying true to the ethical and scientific standards that will define global trust in technology.”
This marks the third AI-focused investment from PSV Tech’s Fund II since its launch in May, further highlighting the Nordics’ growing position in AI innovation.
The founding team of Interhuman AI brings together expertise spanning AI research, startups, and academia. CEO Paula Petcu, one of the few female technical AI founders in Europe, previously served as CTO at Brain+. Co-founder and COO Frederik Sally contributes product and operations knowledge, while CSO Line Clemmensen is a professor in AI and machine learning at the Technical University of Denmark and Copenhagen University.
The team is also supported by advisors with experience across psychology, UX, business development, and artificial intelligence.
Michael Wiatr, Partner at Antler, commented: “Interhuman AI is bringing humanity to AI. In a world increasingly dominated by AI, empowering new technologies to understand the wealth of non‑verbal communication that we take for granted will be transformational. Interhuman AI has a world‑class founding team that combines technical expertise with a real passion and determination to make AI more socially aware. We are delighted to have backed them and have every confidence in their future success.”
With its latest funding round and a strong line-up of investors, Interhuman AI is positioning itself at the forefront of efforts to reshape how humans and AI systems interact – a move that could have a lasting impact on industries ranging from healthcare to education.
