"Admin is Europe's growth tax": Agent F raises $4M to automate it away

When a startup's press pitch cites the Draghi report — with a reminder that not a single company with a market value above €100 billion has been built from scratch in the European Union in the past fifty years — you can bet I take notice. Especially when the company is not only developing software to challenge legacy enterprise technology providers but also to guide other startups to glory. Berlin-based Agent F, which is building AI agents to automate accounting, financial controlling and planning for high-growth companies, has raised $4 million in pre-seed funding. Los Angeles-based Alpha Edison led the round. Its partners have experience helping build technology companies including Microsoft, Apple, Google and Snap. I spoke to Agent F CEO Felix Schläger to learn more. In Europe, the back office grows faster than the business. Every new hire, customer and country adds filings, reports and reconciliations. For growing companies, keeping track of finances and administrative obliga