Large language models can process language with increasing accuracy, but they still miss what makes human conversation pulse. Tone, body language, and subtle shifts in behaviour are where most meaning lies, with research suggesting up to 93% of communication is non-verbal. Interhuman AI, a Copenhagen-based startup, is trying to close that gap.
To create the first social intelligence layer for AI, the startup has secured a €2 million pre-seed round led by PSV Tech, with backing from EIFO, Antler, The Yope Foundation and angels linked to Ada Ventures.
The €2M round will help Interhuman build out its API and platform, expand its technical team, and set up early pilots in healthcare and learning. The longer-term goal is to establish the company as the European leader in socially aware AI, creating a foundation that can be applied across industries.
From words to behaviour
In a conversation with TFN, Paula Petcu, co-founder and CEO of Interhuman AI, says, “AI can’t stay transactional if it’s going to matter in people’s lives. Our mission is to bring social intelligence into AI, so it can actually read the room and respond more like a human would. This round gives us the fuel to prove that.”
Instead of guessing emotions like happy or sad, Interhuman’s system picks up and interprets observable behaviours such as hesitation, confusion, or engagement. By combining computer vision, audio analysis, and behavioural science, it translates human signals into cues that machines can understand in context.
Frederik Sally, co-founder and COO of Interhuman AI, adds, “A lot of work in affective computing has focused on detecting emotions: happy, sad, neutral. The problem is that emotions are internal states, and trying to label them often oversimplifies what’s really happening. We focus instead on behaviours: the external signals people show, like confusion, disagreement, hesitation or engagement. These are the cues humans naturally pick up on in a conversation, and they’re far more useful in real-world AI applications.”
This puts the startup closer to companies like Hume or Tavus, though the founders say both take a different tack. Hume leans heavily on emotions; Tavus is avatar-first. Interhuman bets that behavioural cues will matter more for real-time interaction.
Why start Interhuman?
Petcu’s path to Interhuman runs through a decade in health tech and data science. A former CTO at Brain+, she also managed digital health projects at Lundbeck and was previously named one of Denmark’s Top 100 young talents. Originally from Romania, she moved to Denmark in 2009 to study computer science and has since been recognised among Europe’s leading women in tech leadership.
She explains, “I’m a technologist who fell in love with the human brain. When GPT was released, it was a moment of realisation of a new wave of technology impacting the world. And her motivation for this is continuing the work on how we can use technology to understand ourselves and each other better.”
She met Prof. Line Clemmensen, an academic specialising in AI and machine learning at DTU and Copenhagen University, who had spent years researching multimodal analysis of human behaviour. The pair later met Sally through an accelerator at Antler. A three-time founder, he had previously scaled Ackermann into a market leader in its field.
Alongside its technology, the startup stands out for its team. Of its three founders, two are women. Petcu acknowledges the rarity of her role as a female technical CEO in AI.
“There haven’t been many role models to look to. What I’ve learned is you need to rely on your strengths, learn to say no to distractions, and build resilience like an athlete. We even used our own product for me to practice communicating boundaries more clearly,” says Petcu to TFN.
What’s next?
Over the next three to five years, Interhuman aims to reach hundreds of companies through integrations and partnerships, refining its models as adoption grows. The founders see their work as infrastructure: a social intelligence layer that will eventually be expected in every kind of human-AI interaction.“Interhuman AI is exactly the kind of technological breakthrough Europe needs. It shows that European founders can lead in frontier AI, while staying true to the ethical and scientific standards that will define global trust in technology,” adds Alexander Viterbo-Horten, Partner at PSV Tech.
