Barcelona AI Startup Artiso Raises More Than €3 Million in Pre-Seed Round
Criteria Venture Tech led the round for Artiso, which builds an AI operating system for fashion teams and was founded by three former Mango executives.
Artiso, a Barcelona startup founded by three former Mango executives, has raised more than €3 million in a pre-seed round led by Criteria Venture Tech. The company announced the round on Wednesday, 28 October 2026. Demócrata and Merca2 say the funding is entirely equity. Merca2 gives the size as just over €3 million, while Demócrata and FashionUnited say more than €3 million.
Artiso builds an AI operating system for fashion teams. Its website confirms the round and names the same investors that the press reports list. No valuation has been announced.
What the Platform Covers, From Archive to Campaign
Artiso describes its product as an AI operating system for fashion teams. Its website says the platform covers creative direction, visual content, design, pre-production and merchandising. It runs from brand archives and moodboards through technical drawings, tech packs, supplier connections and campaign visuals.
The website lists the modules in five groups. Brand Core covers the archive, brand DNA and trends. Design includes a smart gallery, moodboards, sketch-to-render and vibe design. Pre-production covers technical drawing, tech packs, AI pattern work and PLM and systems integration. Visual content includes video, lookbooks, editorial images, AI avatars and e-commerce photos. Merchandising covers styling, store layout, displays and windows, and a B2B product catalogue.
FashionUnited says the system uses agentic AI to guide fashion teams from moodboards and design through pattern drafting and product development. It produces tech packs, virtual and on-model imagery, packshots and campaign visuals without physical samples. It also builds a memory of each brand’s archive, which the platform uses to personalise its results.
Merca2 reports the company’s figure: about four minutes to generate a technical sheet on the platform, against two to six hours by the manual process. It also says the system brings together design files, data and technical sheets that are now spread across PLM software, design programmes, spreadsheets, shared folders and email.
The company’s website also cites its own figures: a 70% reduction in product development time, 5x faster concept-to-campaign cycles and 90% savings on commercial visuals.
About the Lead Investor
Merca2 describes Criteria Venture Tech as the technology venture vehicle of Criteria Capital Risc, the investment arm of CriteriaCaixa.
Who Is Backing the Round
Criteria Venture Tech leads the round. Merca2 describes it as the technology venture vehicle of Criteria Capital Risc, the investment arm of CriteriaCaixa. FashionUnited calls it a European venture capital fund. Swanlaab Venture Factory and Bynd Venture Capital also take part as venture firms.
Two angel investors complete the list. David Tomás, a co-founder of Cyberclick, is one. The other is Nicolaj Reffstrup, described by Demócrata, Merca2 and FashionUnited as the founder and former CEO of Ganni. Merca2 describes Ganni as a Danish brand and says he invests through Look Up Ventures.
FashionUnited quotes Reffstrup saying “Taste is what makes a brand unique”. He also says AI cannot replace taste but can give talented creative teams extraordinary leverage.
Roma Jelinskaite, managing director of Criteria Venture Tech, is also quoted by FashionUnited. She calls Artiso’s combination unusual and says the fund looks for teams with the ambition to build global leaders.
Demócrata quotes Sarah Iglesias describing the product as one system that links each firm’s taste and archive to its creative teams’ work.
Founders, Clients and Timing
FashionUnited names three co-founders, each with prior roles at Mango. Sarah Iglesias Hiller is CEO and previously worked at Inditex. Matthias Brenninkmeijer is CTO and previously worked at C&A. Lucas Pastur Romay is CPO and previously worked at Grifols. Demócrata names only Iglesias, as CEO and co-founder.
Client names differ by source. Merca2 lists Deichmann, Natura, RW&CO, Penningtons and We Norwegians. FashionUnited names no clients. It says the platform serves mid-sized businesses, major fashion groups and luxury houses in Europe, Asia and North America, with the United States as a key market.
FashionUnited says Artiso launched just over a year before the round and has operated in stealth mode away from the public eye. The exact founding date has not been given.
Its backers combine a venture fund with the founder and former CEO of the Danish brand Ganni, who invested as an angel.
What the Raise Signals for Fashion-Tech Funding
This is one pre-seed round. The structure is still worth noting. A venture arm leads the round, and it is joined by two venture firms and two individual angels. Its backers combine a venture fund with the founder and former CEO of the Danish brand Ganni, who invested as an angel.
According to the coverage, the money will go toward developing the operating system, hiring people with fashion and technology profiles, and supporting client rollouts. Demócrata and Merca2 list the same three uses. FashionUnited says the team already includes specialists in pattern making, design, art direction, motion graphics and data science.
