Solvera Raises $6.3M Funding to Build the AI-Native Engineering Firm That Replaces Billable Hours

Solvera, the Oslo-based AI-native engineering firm for the construction industry, has raised $6.3 million in pre-seed funding 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 .

The funding comes as Solvera prepares to expand its engineering and technology team in Oslo, establish a London office, and accelerate development of its proprietary AI operating system . The company is already working on several building projects in Norway, including commercial projects with contractor Betonmast.

Solvera Funding Overview By CREDX Media

Startup Name	Solvera
Founders	Arif Mirza (CEO), Pål Rasmussen (CTO), Thorvald Thorsnes (CCO)
Founded	July 2026
HQ	Oslo, Norway
Round	Pre-Seed Funding
Amount Raised	$6.3M
Valuation	Not disclosed
Category	Construction Tech, AI-Native Services, Engineering
Lead Investor	Seedcamp
Key Investors	Construct Venture, Inception Fund, Momentum, Obos Ventures, PSV Tech, Sondo, The Nordic Web Ventures
Angel Investors	Anders Kvåle, Håvard Haukeland (Spacemaker founders)
Focus Area	Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) Engineering
Business Model	Engineering firm of record, not software vendor

💡 Use of Funds

• Team Expansion: Growing Solvera’s engineering and technology team in Oslo.
• London Office: Establishing a UK presence for market expansion.
• Operating System: Accelerating development of the proprietary AI platform that automates engineering tasks .

Startup Overview: Solvera

What Solvera Is Building in Simple Words

Solvera is not a software company. It is an engineering firm that uses AI as its production engine.

The distinction matters. Traditional engineering firms sell billable hours. Software vendors sell licenses. Solvera does neither. It takes on engineering projects as the firm of record, delivering construction-ready designs using a combination of proprietary AI agents and experienced human engineers .

• AI-Native Operating System: A purpose-built platform where AI agents automate an increasing share of engineering tasks, while human engineers provide judgement on key decisions .
• End-to-End Delivery: Solvera takes projects from initial requirements and constraints through to coordinated, construction-ready designs .
• Learning System: The operating system captures engineering knowledge from each project and makes it reusable, so the firm gets more efficient over time .
• Starting with MEP: The company is initially focused on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering—a field characterised by complex requirements, multi-discipline coordination, and fragmented tools .
• Revenue Model: Solvera charges for engineering services, not software. Its business model is built around delivering projects, not selling tools .

Why Solvera Matters

1. Engineering Productivity Has Barely Changed in 20 Years CEO Arif Mirza frames the problem bluntly: “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. Technology is only part of the answer. To capture its full potential, you also have to rethink how the firm operates and how it makes money. That is incredibly difficult to do inside organizations built around thousands of people, active projects and billable hours” .
2. The Problem Is the Business Model, Not the Tools Mirza continues: “That is why we decided not to build yet another tool for engineers that doesn’t move the needle in how work gets done. We are building the engineering firm itself around AI” . Most construction tech startups sell software to existing firms. Solvera is competing with those firms directly.
3. MEP Engineering Is Ripe for Disruption Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering involves managing complex requirements, coordinating multiple disciplines, and adapting designs throughout construction. Much of this work remains manual and fragmented, requiring engineers to navigate numerous tools and repeat tasks across projects . Solvera’s AI-first approach targets exactly this inefficiency.
4. Backing from People Who’ve Done This Before The angel investors include Anders Kvåle and Håvard Haukeland, founders of Spacemaker—a Norwegian construction AI company acquired by Autodesk for $240 million in 2020 . Their participation signals that operators who built and sold a construction AI company see Solvera’s model as credible.

Startup Story: From Construction AI Exit to Rebuilding the Firm Itself

Solvera‘s founders are not first-time entrepreneurs. They’ve seen how construction technology gets adopted—and where it fails.

Arif Mirza (CEO), Pål Rasmussen (CTO), and Thorvald Thorsnes (CCO) founded Solvera in July 2026, just months before closing their pre-seed round. The speed of the raise—from founding to $6.3M in under four months—suggests the thesis resonated immediately with investors.

The founding insight came from watching two decades of construction software fail to move productivity metrics. Better tools didn’t change how firms operated. Billable hours still incentivised inefficiency. Fragmented workflows persisted because the organisational structure demanded it.

Mirza’s conclusion was radical: don’t sell tools to engineering firms. Become the engineering firm—but build it around AI from the ground up, with no legacy structure, no billable-hour incentives, and no thousands of employees to retrain.

Solvera’s early traction validates the approach. The company is already delivering MEP engineering on commercial projects in Norway, including work with Betonmast, a major Norwegian contractor . The pre-seed funding now supports the next phase: scaling the team, opening a London office, and expanding the operating system’s capabilities .

Founder Background: The Team Rebuilding Engineering From First Principles

Arif Mirza (CEO) brings experience spanning engineering and technology, with a focus on integrating AI into traditional practices . His framing of Solvera’s purpose is direct: the problem isn’t software, it’s the firm itself.

Pål Rasmussen (CTO) is a technology expert with a background in developing engineering solutions. He leads the operating system’s architecture the AI agents and knowledge-capture systems that make Solvera’s model work.

Thorvald Thorsnes (CCO) brings expertise in customer relations and business development within the engineering sector. He manages client relationships and project delivery as Solvera scales.

The founding team’s combination—domain expertise, technical capability, and commercial execution—positions Solvera to navigate both the engineering and business challenges of rebuilding a services firm around AI.

The AI-Native Services Race Nobody Expected

Solvera operates at the intersection of two trends: AI-native services firms and construction technology.

Traditional engineering firms including Arup, WSP, and Ramboll employ thousands of engineers and bill by the hour. Their business models depend on headcount growth and utilisation rates. AI is a tool they adopt, not a structure they rebuild around.

Construction tech startups including PlanRadar and Procore sell software to those firms. They optimise workflows but don’t change the fundamental business model.

Solvera’s differentiation is that it is the firm. It competes with engineering services providers, not software vendors. Its AI operating system isn’t a product—it’s the production engine behind a services business. Revenue comes from projects, not licenses.

The competitive moat, if it materialises, is compounding knowledge. Every project Solvera delivers adds data and reusable knowledge to its operating system. Traditional firms lose that knowledge when engineers leave. Solvera’s system captures it permanently.

Founder Intelligence: What Founders Can Learn from Solvera

• Don’t build tools for the incumbents—replace them: Solvera didn’t build another software tool for engineering firms. It became the firm. When the business model itself is the bottleneck, selling tools to it won’t fix the problem .
• Hire people who’ve done it before: The participation of Spacemaker’s founders—who sold their construction AI company for $240 million—signals credibility. Domain-specific exits attract domain-specific capital .
• Speed signals conviction: Solvera was founded in July 2026 and closed $6.3M by October. The founders didn’t spend years building before raising—they had a clear thesis and demonstrated traction quickly .
• Rethink the revenue model, not just the technology: Billable hours incentivise inefficiency. Solvera charges for delivered projects, aligning its incentives with speed and quality. The business model innovation is as important as the AI .

Investor Intelligence: Why This Round Gets Premium Capital

Seedcamp led the round, bringing deep European early-stage expertise. Seedcamp has backed companies including Revolut, Wise, and UiPath.

The angel participation is strategically significant. Anders Kvåle and Håvard Haukeland founded Spacemaker, a Norwegian construction AI company that Autodesk acquired for $240 million in 2020 . Their investment signals that operators who built and sold in this exact space see Solvera as the next logical step—not just another tool, but a rebuilt firm.

Construct Venture, Obos Ventures, and The Nordic Web Ventures bring construction industry and Nordic ecosystem expertise. Momentum, PSV Tech, and Sondo add early-stage and sector-specific capital .

The Road Ahead for Solvera

Expansion Targets

With $6.3 million in capital, Solvera will:

• Grow the Oslo team across engineering and technology .
• Establish a London office as a base for UK market expansion .
• Accelerate operating system development to automate more engineering tasks .
• Enter additional markets as the business model matures .

Competitive Response

Expect:

• Traditional engineering firms to experiment with AI-native spinouts
• Construction tech vendors to explore services models
• New AI-native services firms to emerge in adjacent engineering disciplines
• Solvera’s moat: compounding knowledge capture + no legacy incentive structures + domain-specific founder expertise

Conclusion

Solvera’s $6.3 million pre-seed funding validates the thesis that the next generation of engineering firms will be built around AI, not retrofitted with it. The company’s operating system, named clients, and backing from Spacemaker’s founders position it as a credible challenger to traditional engineering services.

Market tailwinds favor Solvera: two decades of stagnant engineering productivity, AI’s growing capability to handle complex coordination tasks, and investor appetite for vertical AI applications that replace services rather than sell software . The company’s decision to become the firm—not tool it—may prove to be the most important architectural choice.

For deep analysis of AI-native services funding, construction tech innovation, and companies reshaping professional services, explore CREDX Media for comprehensive coverage of startup funding trends, valuation intelligence, and founder playbooks.

Want the latest funding news and market insights delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to CredX Letters for verified deal terms, valuation benchmarks, and daily macro signals.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Solvera’s total funding and latest round size?
Solvera has raised $6.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Seedcamp, with participation from Construct Venture, Inception Fund, Momentum, Obos Ventures, PSV Tech, Sondo, and The Nordic Web Ventures .

2. How much did Solvera raise in its pre-seed round and who led the investment?
Solvera raised $6.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Seedcamp, with angel investors including Spacemaker founders Anders Kvåle and Håvard Haukeland .

3. What is the valuation of Solvera?
Solvera did not disclose its post-money valuation. The company was founded in July 2026 and closed its pre-seed round in October 2026 .

4. Who are the major investors in Solvera?
Major investors include Seedcamp (lead), Construct Venture, Inception Fund, Momentum, Obos Ventures, PSV Tech, Sondo, The Nordic Web Ventures, and angels Anders Kvåle and Håvard Haukeland .

5. Who are Solvera’s founders?
Solvera was founded in July 2026 by Arif Mirza (CEO), Pål Rasmussen (CTO), and Thorvald Thorsnes (CCO) .

6. What is Solvera’s business model?
Solvera operates as an engineering firm of record, charging for delivered projects rather than selling software licenses or billing by the hour. Its AI operating system automates engineering tasks while human engineers provide judgement .

7. How does Solvera’s AI operating system work?
The operating system uses AI agents to automate an increasing share of engineering tasks—initially in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design—while capturing knowledge from each project to improve future work .

8. What traction justifies Solvera’s pre-seed funding?
Solvera is already working on several building projects in Norway, including commercial projects with Norwegian contractor Betonmast, covering early-stage engineering through detailed design .

9. What are Solvera’s plans for the $6.3 million pre-seed capital?
Solvera will expand its engineering and technology team in Oslo, establish a London office, and accelerate development of its operating system .

10. How does Solvera differ from traditional engineering firms?
Traditional firms bill by the hour and sell software tools. Solvera is the firm itself—built around AI from the ground up, with no legacy incentive structures and a learning system that captures knowledge permanently .

11. Who is the CEO of Solvera?
Arif Mirza serves as CEO and co-founder of Solvera. His framing: “We are building the engineering firm itself around AI” .