Berlin-based Palma.ai has raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding to expand its platform for governing and monitoring AI agents operating inside enterprise environments. The round was led by D11Z, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures, Deel, Scale Now Ventures, and angel investors including executives from Cisco and Deel. The startup is building a centralized governance layer designed to help companies control how autonomous AI systems access internal tools, data, and workflows.
Addressing Enterprise AI Governance
Founded by CEO Patrick Eden and CTO Julian Kolbe, Palma.ai is targeting a growing challenge created by the shift from conversational AI assistants toward autonomous agents capable of executing business tasks. As organizations adopt multiple internal and third-party agents, security and IT teams increasingly need to manage permissions across a fragmented collection of applications and platforms. Palma.ai aims to provide a single control point through which enterprises can oversee these interactions.
The issue has become particularly relevant as AI agents gain direct access to operational systems such as customer relationship management platforms, financial applications, databases, and other sensitive infrastructure. Without centralized oversight, different AI products may apply their own permission structures, making it more difficult for organizations to determine which agents can access specific tools or perform particular actions. This fragmentation can also complicate compliance, auditing, and accountability as autonomous systems become more widely deployed.
Runtime Control Through MCP
Palma.ai's platform uses the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, an open standard that allows AI models and agents to connect with external tools and corporate data. While MCP enables greater interoperability, Palma.ai positions its technology as an additional governance layer that controls how those connections are used within an organization. Administrators can define approved MCP tools, permissions, policies, and repeatable workflows that apply across multiple AI systems.
The company says its governance controls can operate across platforms including Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and custom enterprise workflows. Instead of relying on each AI application to independently determine access rights, Palma.ai evaluates agent activity at runtime and restricts agents to actions permitted by predefined organizational policies. The platform also records activity through a tamper-evident audit trail intended to provide security and compliance teams with greater visibility into automated actions.
Building a Security Layer for Autonomous Agents
The company is positioning its technology as an intermediary between AI agents and the enterprise systems those agents are authorized to use. This architecture is intended to address risks associated with autonomous workflows, including unauthorized tool usage, sensitive data exposure, and actions triggered through manipulated or malicious prompts. Enterprises can also incorporate approval requirements into workflows when human authorization is needed before an agent performs a sensitive operation.
Palma.ai's approach reflects a broader transition in enterprise AI, where organizations are moving beyond standalone assistants toward systems capable of completing tasks with limited human intervention. As these agents receive greater operational permissions, companies face increasing pressure to establish consistent rules governing how models interact with critical infrastructure. Centralized runtime governance could therefore become an important component of enterprise AI security strategies as agent adoption expands.
Expansion Plans
Palma.ai plans to use the newly raised capital to expand both its engineering and go-to-market teams while bringing its platform to additional enterprise customers. The company will continue developing its governance infrastructure as organizations introduce more autonomous AI agents into internal processes and business applications. The financing provides Palma.ai with additional resources to scale alongside growing enterprise demand for secure and auditable AI deployment.
Palma.ai's $1.8 million pre-seed round comes as enterprises increasingly seek ways to balance AI automation with security, compliance, and operational control. By creating a centralized layer for managing permissions, workflows, and auditability across multiple AI platforms, the company is attempting to address one of the emerging infrastructure challenges created by agentic AI. The funding will support Palma.ai's efforts to expand its technology and commercial presence as autonomous agents become more deeply integrated into enterprise systems.