Why we invested in Complir

We’re kicking off Fund IV with our first investment announcement: Complir, a Danish startup building AI infrastructure for global retail compliance.

Complir helps retailers automate the messy, manual work behind product compliance, from labelling and testing requirements to risk scoring, documentation, and regulatory monitoring. Instead of spreadsheets and scattered PDFs, teams get a connected view of every product and the ability to spot issues before they become problems.

Based in Copenhagen, Complir is already working with leading retailers across Europe, such as Flying Tiger Copenhagen. The €1.7M pre-seed round was led by Vendep, with participation from Plug and Play, Likeminded, Xpress, and a strong group of industry angels.

We first met Complir’s CEO and Co-founder Gustav Bang on the rough seas of the byFounders Voyage (a sailing trip for founders and investors). While the waves were choppy, the pitch was exceptionally clear. Gustav was framing a massive, invisible headache as an infrastructure play: “AI infrastructure for physical product compliance.”

That definitely caught our attention. Unlike many startups chasing the AI hype, it was very clear Complir is not applying AI for the sake of it. They have found a space with legacy processes and vast amounts of data, where AI can massively improve retailer efficiency.

Global retail is facing a perfect storm. Three powerful forces are converging to threaten the industry: intensifying regulatory pressure (like the Digital Product Passports and enhanced REACH directive), the desperate need for retailers to scale globally, and the sheer volume of inventory.

With increasing scrutiny on online marketplaces and stricter import rules across the world, the responsibility for selling safe and legal products sits firmly with companies. Retailers need transparency in their product data to move fast, cut risk, and scale across markets. Complir’s AI agents highlight market-access requirements in seconds, giving retailers the ability to expand product lines and enter new markets without waiting weeks for compliance clearance.

Product compliance is something few startups want to touch. It’s thankless, buried in bureaucracy and endless spreadsheets, and traditionally solved by adding headcount, not technology. Without a modern system, the risk of non-compliance isn't theoretical anymore, it’s a drag on momentum and scalability. Existing solutions often function like digital filing cabinets, passive storage for PDFs that fail to address the cognitive load of understanding complex regulations against massive datasets.

“Our mission is to make it easy for European retailers to launch products anywhere in the world – safely, confidently, and without drowning in paperwork.”

- Gustav Bang, CEO & Co-founder of Complir

During the demo call, we saw that Complir team hadn’t just built software for their customers, they had built it from within. The founders spent time inside their customers' offices, coming to understand the data architecture and daily workflows better than many internal teams. This allowed them to balance rapid prototyping with production-ready code that feels intuitive to the user.

The result is a system that provides robust compliance capabilities and automated auditing. Rather than just being another tool in the stack, Complir has quickly become a trusted "source of truth" for its early customers, bringing clarity where there was previously only complexity.

"What impressed us most is how quickly this team has built something truly valuable inside real customer workflows. They’ve earned their way deep into organisations by understanding not just the technical challenge, but the data, the processes, and decisions that underpin product compliance."
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- Artis Bisers, Investment Manager at Vendep Capital

It takes a specific type of founder to get excited about regulatory compliance. It takes an even rarer one to combine that obsession with high-end UX and an enterprise sales motion.

What we learned about Gustav and his other two co-founders Tine Kühnel and Marc Kaa Brejner is their ability to maintain high-velocity "founder energy" while navigating sluggish enterprise environments. They have identified the exact inflection point where AI capability meets regulatory complexity, and they are executing on that.

At Vendep, we look for AI enabled operational engines. Teams building fundamentally better versions of critical business processes. Complir is a great example of that. They’ve taken a complex, overlooked function and turned it into structured, scalable software. So safe to say we’re excited to partner with the team as they define the future of retail compliance.

Welcome to the Vendep community, Complir! 💚