Emilia AI, an innovative artificial intelligence startup leveraging computer vision to optimize the hospitality and dining sector, has successfully raised a $1.5 million pre-seed funding round. The investment was spearheaded by global technology investor Prosus, which contributed $1 million to the round, signaling strong institutional confidence in the burgeoning intersection of artificial intelligence and physical retail operations across Latin America.
Founded in 2024 by visionary Colombian entrepreneurs Andrés Cajiao and Sebastian Rojo, Emilia AI was built to address one of the most persistent and costly challenges in the restaurant industry: operational inefficiency and revenue leakage. The company’s proprietary platform integrates seamlessly with a restaurant’s existing security camera infrastructure and point-of-sale (POS) data systems. By continuously analyzing video feeds alongside transactional data, the software identifies crucial sales opportunities, potential internal fraud, and operational bottlenecks in real time. This dual-lens approach gives restaurant owners and managers actionable insights that were previously impossible to capture without constant, manual video monitoring.
The newly secured pre-seed capital will be deployed primarily to accelerate the ongoing development and refinement of Emilia AI’s core platform. Furthermore, the founders plan to use the funds to fuel strategic expansion efforts within Brazil, which currently serves as the startup’s primary market, before setting their sights on broader expansion across other key Latin American countries. The region’s vibrant and rapidly modernizing culinary landscape presents a massive addressable market for automated operational intelligence tools.
Before finalizing this round of funding, Emilia AI put its technology through rigorous real-world testing with major industry players in Brazil. Among its early adopters was Alife Nino, a prominent hospitality group that operates more than 100 restaurants throughout the country. The results of the pilot deployment demonstrated the tangible financial impact of the company’s technology. According to metrics provided by Emilia AI, the pilot generated an estimated $300 in additional monthly revenue per table, achieving this impressive financial return at an operational cost of just $10 per table.
Building on this success, Emilia AI also ran a successful pilot program with Jin Jin, another major name in the Brazilian dining sector. Following the positive outcomes of the initial trial, Jin Jin is currently in the process of expanding the Emilia AI platform across more than 77 of its restaurant locations, further validating the scalability and market demand for the startup’s intelligent monitoring solutions.
The backing from Prosus, a seasoned investor in high-growth technology markets worldwide, underscores a growing investor appetite for verticalized artificial intelligence applications that solve complex, everyday business problems in traditional industries. As Emilia AI continues to scale its operations across Brazil and looks toward its next phase of regional growth, the startup aims to redefine how restaurants monitor their floor efficiency, protect their bottom lines, and maximize revenue opportunities through the power of computer vision.
