The application of artificial intelligence in clinical trials is rapidly reshaping how the pharmaceutical and biotech industries manage the vast, fragmented data sets that underpin drug development. With clinical trial data volumes having grown by more than 400 per cent over the past decade, the need for intelligent infrastructure capable of unifying and analysing this information has never been more pressing. Zurich-based startup Rivia has raised €13 million in a Series A round to expand its agentic AI data platform, positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation.
The round was led by Earlybird, one of Europe’s most established venture capital firms, with Defiant joining as a new investor alongside existing backers Speedinvest, Amino Collective, and Nina Capital. The fresh capital will support product development, team expansion, and international growth, with a particular focus on the US biotech market as demand for more efficient trial execution continues to accelerate.
Earlybird leads Series A as agentic AI gains traction in healthcare
Founded in 2022 by Erik Scalfaro and Tiago Kieliger, Rivia has built what it describes as an agentic data engine — a system in which AI agents actively surface insights, flag anomalies, and help coordinate the operational layer of a clinical trial, rather than simply storing and visualising data. The platform comprises three core components: Rivia Core, which consolidates fragmented data from thousands of heterogeneous files across vendors into a structured foundation; Rivia Detect, which continuously monitors data quality, clusters thousands of issues, and automates corrective actions; and Rivia Spark, which transforms natural language queries into visual analytics for patient cohorts, adverse events, and biomarkers.
The company currently supports approximately 40 clinical trials across Europe and the United States, integrating data from specialty laboratories, patient wearables, genomics platforms, and imaging systems into a single, harmonised infrastructure. Erik Scalfaro, CEO and co-founder of Rivia, has spoken about the company’s deliberate approach to building its technology, noting that Rivia started with the foundational data engine before layering in agentic capabilities — a sequence he believes gives the company a structural advantage over competitors.
AI in clinical trials market poised for significant growth
The global AI in clinical trials market is estimated at approximately $2.09 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $18.62 billion by 2040, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 17 per cent. Industry analysts anticipate that AI-driven solutions could reduce clinical development timelines by 30 to 40 per cent within the next two to five years, a prospect that is drawing considerable investor attention to the space.
Rivia’s focus on agentic AI — where autonomous agents manage workflows from data integration to real-time risk monitoring — places it within one of the fastest-growing segments of health technology. Unlike traditional clinical data management systems that require extensive manual intervention, agentic platforms can proactively identify protocol deviations, predict enrolment bottlenecks, and automate regulatory reporting workflows. This shift from passive data storage to active intelligence represents a fundamental change in how trials are operated.
The Series A round follows a €3 million seed round in 2024, also backed by Speedinvest, Amino Collective, and Nina Capital. With the European clinical trial ecosystem increasingly competing for global biotech investment, platforms like Rivia that bridge European innovation with US market access are well positioned to capture growing demand for next-generation trial infrastructure.
Summary
Company: Rivia
Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
Founded: 2022
Founders: Erik Scalfaro (CEO), Tiago Kieliger
Round: Series A
Amount: €13 million (~$15 million)
Lead investor: Earlybird
Other investors: Defiant, Speedinvest, Amino Collective, Nina Capital
Use of funds: Product development, team growth, US market expansion