Helsinki-based startup Skene has secured $931,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Superhero Capital, with additional backing from NVIDIA executives. The company aims to turn software products into self-sustaining growth engines using AI-driven autonomous agents. Skene plans to use the investment to surpass $1.16 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and expand its offerings across the full user journey by spring 2026.
Addressing the $113 Billion Execution Gap
The surge in AI-assisted software development has created a $113 billion execution gap between product creation and commercial success. Industry studies show that 42% of startups fail to reach their intended market, while more than half of SaaS applications remain unused or underutilized. This gap results in substantial venture capital waste, as products with potential often fall short of delivering critical growth outcomes such as activation, feature adoption, and customer retention.
Companies typically attempt to close this gap by increasing sales and customer success teams, but this approach often masks the product’s inherent ability to drive autonomous growth. Skene’s platform is designed to tackle this issue by automating the growth process without relying on human-heavy workflows. CEO Teemu Kinos, who previously co-founded GetJenny, emphasizes that AI-native strategies can deliver faster, scalable growth that traditional methods cannot match.
How Skene’s AI Agents Work
Skene’s core technology consists of AI agents capable of directly reading and understanding a product’s source code. These agents quickly identify the product’s structure, logic, and intended use, generating user guidance that evolves continuously based on best practices. By helping users derive more value from a product, Skene not only improves adoption but also creates opportunities for feature expansion and higher retention across the customer lifecycle.
The company’s approach of analyzing actual code rather than relying solely on product usage data represents a significant innovation in product-led growth. Juha Ruohonen, General Partner at Superhero Capital, described Skene’s methodology as a “fundamental breakthrough” and highlighted the team’s experience as repeat founders with an ambitious execution roadmap. Users of Skene’s platform have reported immediate benefits, with the AI revealing overlooked tasks and optimizing user workflows.
Early Success and Market Validation
Skene’s first AI agent is already live and generating measurable improvements in user engagement. Anna Harris, Chief Growth Officer at Shen.ai, noted that the platform clarified critical jobs to be done and highlighted blind spots previously unnoticed during fast-paced execution. The founding team, which includes Teppo Hudsson and Michele Boggia, PhD, who specializes in NLP-driven product development, aims to expand the product’s growth loop to cover the entire user journey by early 2026.
By automating onboarding, adoption, and retention, Skene positions itself as an “autonomous value layer” for SaaS products. Its technology enables companies to unlock revenue potential that often remains hidden behind traditional, manual growth efforts. With its pre-seed funding in place, Skene is now set to accelerate adoption and demonstrate how autonomous AI agents can transform the way software products grow and retain users.
As the startup ecosystem increasingly demands faster and more scalable growth strategies, Skene’s AI-driven platform offers a novel solution. By reducing reliance on human-heavy processes, the company empowers software teams to achieve product-led growth at speed and scale. With its innovative approach and experienced leadership team, Skene is poised to address the execution gap and help software products realize their full commercial potential.