Qala AG, a Swiss startup building next-generation infrastructure for enterprise data visibility and compliance, has raised €1.7 million in pre-seed funding to scale its source-level data observability platform.
The round was led by QBIT Capital and Haatch, with participation from Backbone Ventures, ROI Ventures, and SICTIC technology angels.
Bringing Continuous Compliance to the Source
As AI adoption accelerates, enterprises are realizing that data governance can no longer be an afterthought. Qala is tackling this by embedding continuous compliance directly into the data creation layer, offering real-time observability, lineage tracking, and policy enforcement without disrupting developer workflows.
“AI is forcing enterprises to deeply understand their data and rethink who’s trusted with it,” said David Scott Turner, Co-founder and CEO of Qala AG. “Governance can’t live at the edges anymore — it has to operate at the source. Trustworthy software starts the moment data enters your system. Qala gives teams clarity and control they’ve never had before.”
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The Growing Need for Real-Time Data Governance
From GDPR to DORA and the EU AI Act, Europe’s regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly. Yet, most organizations still rely on manual compliance processes that can’t keep up with dynamic cloud and AI environments.
The platform integrates directly into codebases, APIs, and data pipelines to deliver automated, continuous governance—helping companies track data movement, permissions, and dependencies across microservices and multi-cloud architectures.
“Engineering and security teams lose days trying to answer basic questions: Where does data live? How is it protected? Who controls it?” said Carl Strempel, Co-founder of Qala. “We turn those questions into instant, auditable answers.”
Swiss Precision Meets Global Ambition
Founded in 2024 by David Scott Turner, Carl Strempel, and Bruno Soares, the team brings deep experience from regulated sectors. Their previous company, Imburse Payments, was acquired by a major U.S. insurance software firm — experience that shaped their conviction that “compliance must shift left.”
“AI makes compliance more relevant — and harder — than ever before,” said Bruno Soares, Co-founder of Qala. “Qala was built from the scars of building in regulated environments. We’re making compliance automatic, real-time, and continuous.”
Backers See a Category-Defining Opportunity
Investors see the startup as part of a new wave of data infrastructure startups reshaping Europe’s enterprise stack.
“Qala makes compliance continuous and built into the development lifecycle,” said Basel Sbeini, General Partner at QBIT Capital. “Their timing is perfect — as AI transforms data usage, governance and control become mission-critical. The founders’ expertise gives them a clear advantage to define this new category.”
About Qala AG
Qala AG is a Zurich-based data governance startup helping enterprises gain full visibility and control of their data at the source. Its platform integrates with code, APIs, and data pipelines to deliver real-time compliance, lineage tracking, and policy automation — enabling continuous governance across modern AI and cloud ecosystems.
