Kodesage, a Hungarian artificial intelligence startup focused on modernising legacy software systems, has raised $6.6 million in seed funding. The round was led by VentureFriends, with participation from Portfolion, former footballer Mario Götze, and machine learning researcher Christian Szegedy.
The newly founded company, established in 2024, is addressing a persistent challenge faced by large enterprises: the technical and operational burden of maintaining ageing software systems while transitioning to modern architectures. Rather than positioning itself as a pure automation tool, Kodesage has developed an AI-assisted platform designed to streamline the modernisation process, particularly for organisations operating in heavily regulated sectors where legacy and contemporary systems must often run in parallel.
Tackling Enterprise Modernisation Challenges
The modernisation of enterprise software represents one of the most complex undertakings in contemporary technology management. As organisations accumulate decades of custom code and proprietary systems, institutional knowledge frequently disperses through staff turnover, leaving subsequent teams struggling to maintain increasingly unwieldy infrastructure. This problem intensifies in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare and insurance, where systems cannot simply be shut down and rebuilt overnight.
Gergely Dombi, representing Kodesage’s leadership, outlined the company’s vision: “Software modernisation is rarely straightforward, particularly in regulated industries where legacy and modern systems often need to coexist for years. As institutional knowledge gradually disappears, the burden of maintaining these systems continues to grow. Our goal is to help organisations modernise faster, reduce operational complexity and improve support through AI-assisted tooling.”
Expansion Plans Across Atlantic and Europe
The newly secured capital will be allocated toward two primary strategic objectives. Kodesage plans to expand its go-to-market operations across both the United States and European markets, recognising that software modernisation challenges are global in scale. Simultaneously, the company will invest in advancing its product capabilities and strengthening its engineering team, indicating an intention to broaden the scope and sophistication of its AI-powered tooling.
The funding round reflects growing investor confidence in solutions addressing digital transformation challenges. The participation of Christian Szegedy, known for foundational work in deep learning and computer vision, suggests the technical credibility of Kodesage’s artificial intelligence approach. Götze’s involvement adds to a broader trend of professional athletes and sports figures investing in European technology ventures.
Growing Interest in Software Modernisation
Kodesage’s emergence reflects a broader maturing within the European startup ecosystem, where companies are increasingly building practical solutions for enterprise software challenges rather than pursuing purely consumer-focused applications. Legacy system modernisation has become a recognised category attracting both venture capital and multinational enterprise attention, as organisations acknowledge that effective digital transformation requires sophisticated tooling and expertise. The company’s positioning at this intersection of artificial intelligence and enterprise software architecture suggests continued investor appetite for solutions addressing the substantial technical debt accumulated across global industries.