Shakudo, a Toronto-based company whose software helps businesses deploy AI tools inside their own infrastructure, raised a US$7m Series A2 round, announced on 17 February 2026. BetaKit reported that the round closed in late October.
Wittington Ventures, the venture arm of the Weston family's holding company, led the round. BetaKit said all of the money is primary equity capital. Returning investors Golden Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures and RTP Global took part, and two individuals invested personally: Chris Sullens, chief executive of CentralReach, and David Stevens, a former head of AI.
Jim Orlando, managing partner at Wittington, joined Shakudo's board. The valuation was not disclosed, though chief executive Yevgeniy Vahlis told BetaKit it was a significant bump over the Series A.
Customers become investors
BetaKit's report centred on how the round came together. Vahlis described it as opportunistic inbound interest: an investment firm and executives who used the product approached the company the previous summer.
Orlando said Wittington introduced Shakudo to Loblaw Digital, which he said cut six-month AI development cycles to same-day delivery. Wittington's holdings include Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart.
Co-founder and chief operating officer Christine Yuen said the customer investors were a sign of validation.
Vahlis told BetaKit the raise was not planned. The investment firm and the executives who approached the company had used the product, which BetaKit framed as customers turning into investors.
What Shakudo does
Shakudo was founded in 2021 by experts from Georgian Partners, Borealis AI and BMO. It sells an operating system for data and AI that runs in a customer's own cloud, and its website now describes a sovereign AI platform that bundles AI agents, governance and model access.
The company has launched an AI agent called Kaji, which Vahlis described as a top-tier engineer that knows everything about these tools and is also business-minded.
Vahlis said the business has grown sevenfold since its Series A and that its revenue is in the ballpark of a Series B company. He plans to raise a larger Series B in a year or two. BetaKit reported 35 employees in Toronto, with hiring under way in Silicon Valley and Bangalore.
What the money is for
Osler, which advised on the deal, said the financing will support Shakudo's expansion to the United States and the launch of new products.
Orlando said Shakudo could become the default operating system for enterprise AI.
Osler, a law firm, lists the deal in its record of work and dates the announcement 17 February 2026. The Logic, which also reported the round, confirmed the US$7m size, the lead investor and the returning backers.
The funding so far
Shakudo's earlier Series A was US$7.2m, closed in early 2023. BetaKit put total funding at about US$18m, while The Logic cited PitchBook data of US$17.8m. The Series A2 follows that round and is labelled as an extension of the Series A stage rather than a Series B. The round is labelled Series A2 and sits between the 2023 Series A and the Series B that Vahlis expects to raise.
Company website: shakudo.io