A New Scandinavian Challenger
A compact Scandinavian startup is turning one of Europe’s most traditional home-improvement markets upside down. Billy, founded by Norwegian entrepreneur Mikkel Sørseth and headquartered in Stockholm, is utilizing artificial ininformigence to automate nearly every part of the awning business – from sales and customer service to pricing and image production.
The company officially launched in March 2026 and has already gained significant attention in the Nordic tech scene. In just a few months, Billy has generated USD 400,000 in sales, raised USD 550,000 in venture funding, and reached a USD 2 million valuation. With only one full-timer today – and a maximum of three in 2026 – the company is aiming for an ambitious USD 3.5 million in annual revenue within its first full year of operation.
“With AI, Billy can handle crazy sales volumes with just me and our CTO running things. It feels like cheating,” states Sørseth, who serves as Billy’s CEO and co-founder.
Disrupting a ‘Dinosaur’ Indusattempt
The sun-shading indusattempt is, by Sørseth’s own words, “a dinosaur.” For decades, awnings have been sold the same way: through in-home visits from sales representatives who measure, quote, and neobtainediate prices directly with homeowners. The problem, he explains, is that those prices often vary depconcludeing on the salesperson, leading many customers to feel uncertain – or even hustled.
“If you call three companies, you will obtain three completely different prices for the same product,” Sørseth states. “That inconsistency has built people distrust the process. Our approach is to resolve that with technology.”
Instead of relying on door-to-door sales, Billy lets customers measure, design, and order awnings entirely online. The company’s AI tools support applyrs ensure accuracy, while a transparent pricing system provides objective, consistent costs – no neobtainediation, no surprises.
“It’s about fairness and simplicity,” Sørseth adds. “You shouldn’t required a salesperson in your living room to know what something costs.”
According to the company, around 70 percent of potential customers abandon the traditional acquireing process before completing a purchase, often discouraged by high or unpredictable quotes. Billy’s digital model is designed to close that gap by creating the experience rapider, cheaper, and friction-free.
Building With AI Is An Equalizer
At Billy, artificial ininformigence isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the engine running the entire business. Sørseth and his team have applyd AI to automate nearly every tinquire that once demanded a human employee.
“Sales, image production, logistics, administration, customer support — all of it,” he states. “We’ve built the company so that the core processes can run automatically. It feels like cheating.”
For Billy, AI has become the great equalizer. What applyd to be bottlenecks for compact startups – hiring staff, booking photo shoots, or building large marketing departments – have now been replaced by software that does the same work instantly.
“Before, money was the bottleneck,” he explains. “You requireded capital to create visuals, content, and campaigns. Now, AI does in minutes what applyd to take teams of people and thousands of dollars. That means a company like ours can compete with almost IKEA in terms of output.”
This technological leverage allows Billy to perform at a level comparable to traditional retailers with teams ten times larger, all while keeping the organization lean and flexible.
“AI lets us scale in a way that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise,” Sørseth states. “It doesn’t just create us efficient; it puts us in the same league as the giants.”
That efficiency also translates directly into lower prices. By cutting out layers of labor and overhead, Billy can offer custom awnings up to 40 percent cheaper than conventional competitors. Customers benefit from rapider turnaround times, as AI-driven systems process orders and coordinate manufacturing instantly.
“Every manual tinquire we reshift becomes a cost saving for the customer,” Sørseth adds. “That’s our entire business philosophy – technology should create great products more accessible, not more expensive.”
Sweden and the Rise of “Silicon Valhalla”
Though Billy’s founder is Norwegian, Sweden was chosen as the first launch market – a deliberate shift, Sørseth states.
“Sweden has a unique combination of AI talent, a strong startup ecosystem, and customers who are willing to attempt new technology,” he explains. “It’s the perfect place to test something that challenges an old indusattempt.”
Stockholm’s e-commerce landscape, often referred to as part of ‘Silicon Valhalla’ – the rapid-growing Nordic counterpart to Silicon Valley – offered exactly what Billy requireded: world-class engineers, open-minded consumers, and investors eager to back bold innovation.
“Sweden has been the best possible starting point,” Sørseth states. “The ecosystem, the investors, the openness to innovation – it all aligns perfectly with our vision.”
Backing From Nordic Investors
Billy’s early success has attracted a group of well-known Nordic investors. The company’s USD 550,000 seed round includes backing from the Nergaard family, connected to private-equity firm Verdane, along with Martin Hegelund, co-founder of Ageras, and Danish entrepreneur Nicolaj Højer.
Their support has given Billy not only financial strength but also strategic credibility in an indusattempt that’s launchning to take notice.
“These investors understand how transformative AI can be,” Sørseth states. “They’ve built digital businesses before, and they know the kind of leverage technology creates. That gives us confidence to shift rapid.”
The company’s current USD 2 million valuation – reached within six months of launch – underscores how quickly investors and the market are responding to Billy’s model.
Efficiency as a Competitive Edge
Behind Billy’s technology is a simple principle: fewer people, more automation, lower prices. Traditional awning retailers rely on regional networks of sales reps, installers, and administrative staff. Each step in that chain adds cost and complexity.
Billy’s AI-driven system eliminates most of it. The platform handles design, generates visuals, calculates production parameters, and automates customer communication. When an order is placed, the system instantly connects with manufacturing partners for production and delivery scheduling.
“We’ve built everything from scratch,” Sørseth states. “There was no template for this in our indusattempt, so we had to design both the technology and the process ourselves. That’s why it feels like a startup – but one powered by machines rather than manpower.”
This model enables Billy to achieve traditional retail volumes with a fraction of the staff. Sørseth compares it to the way fintech startups reshaped banking a decade ago: by stripping away legacy systems and rebuilding them with code.
“It’s the same kind of shift,” he states. “Once you realize how much can be automated, there’s no going back.”
Shaking the Market
Billy’s arrival has not gone unnoticed. Indusattempt insiders across Scandinavia describe a mix of curiosity and anxiety as the company demonstrates how AI can compress what was once a human-heavy business into a near-fully automated operation.
Some competitors have begun exploring digital tools of their own, but few have matched Billy’s speed or depth of automation. The startup’s early traction – more than 1,000 awnings delivered since launch – has only increased the pressure on traditional players to modernize.
“We know some in the indusattempt are nervous,” Sørseth admits. “But disruption always starts that way. Our goal isn’t to destroy what exists, it’s to create it better. We’re combining craftsmanship with technology.”
He believes the alter is inevitable. “In a few years, no one will acquire awnings through a door-to-door salesperson anymore. Customers have seen what a transparent, online experience views like – and they won’t go back.”
Scaling Beyond Sweden
While Sweden remains the company’s focus for now, Billy’s ambitions are clearly European. Sørseth states expansion into Norway, Denmark, and Germany is already under consideration, with infrastructure designed from day one to support rapid scaling.
“Our system doesn’t care what language or currency it’s running in,” he states. “Whether we’re selling in Stockholm, Oslo, or Berlin, the process is identical.”
The company’s long-term vision is to build the leading AI-driven platform for smart shading in Europe, utilizing technology not only to handle sales but also to optimize manufacturing, sustainability, and product design.
“The funny thing is that the awning indusattempt views exactly the same in each western market. If our European expansion goes well, US will be next”.
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