Emilia AI, an innovative artificial intelligence startup founded in 2024 by Colombian entrepreneurs Andrés Cajiao and Sebastian Rojo, has successfully closed a $1.5 million pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by global tech investor Prosus, which contributed $1 million to the round. The fresh capital will be deployed to accelerate the development of Emilia AI’s proprietary technology platform and fuel its ongoing expansion efforts across Brazil, which serves as the company’s primary market, before scaling into other key Latin American countries.
The company operates at the intersection of computer vision, data analytics, and hospitality management. Emilia AI leverages artificial intelligence to analyze restaurant operations in real time using a venue’s existing security camera infrastructure. By seamlessly combining video feed data with point-of-sale (POS) transactional data, the platform provides restaurant owners and operators with actionable intelligence. It is designed to identify lucrative sales opportunities, detect potential fraud, and pinpoint operational bottlenecks that can impact both customer satisfaction and the bottom line.
Since its inception, Emilia AI has moved swiftly to validate its technology in high-volume commercial environments. The startup put its platform through rigorous real-world testing with major industry players, most notably Alife Nino, a prominent hospitality group that operates more than 100 restaurants across Brazil. The pilot program delivered remarkable results, demonstrating the tangible financial impact of AI-driven operational oversight. According to data provided by Emilia AI, the trial generated approximately $300 in additional monthly revenue per table, while operating at a cost of just $10 per table to the restaurant group.
Building on the success of the Alife Nino deployment, Emilia AI also conducted a successful pilot program with Jin Jin, another major food service operator in the region. Following the positive outcomes of the test, Jin Jin is currently in the process of expanding the Emilia AI platform across more than 77 of its locations. These early commercial validations highlight the market demand for automated, data-driven solutions in the restaurant sector, where profit margins are historically tight and operational efficiency is paramount.
The backing from Prosus, a major global investor with a deep portfolio of high-growth technology companies, represents a significant endorsement of Emilia AI’s business model and growth potential in Latin America. With the newly secured $1.5 million in pre-seed funding, founders Andrés Cajiao and Sebastian Rojo are positioned to scale their engineering and product development teams, enhance the capabilities of their computer vision algorithms, and solidify their footprint in Brazil’s competitive restaurant tech landscape ahead of a broader regional rollout.
