Israeli artificial intelligence startup Geniez has raised six million dollars in a seed funding round. StageOne Ventures and Canapi Ventures co-led the investment. The company will use the funds to expand its engineering and commercial teams, strengthen partnerships, and build deeper connections with generative AI platforms.
This investment highlights the growing demand for solutions that can connect traditional mainframe systems with modern artificial intelligence models. Geniez stands at the center of this shift. It promises to help industries that still rely on mainframes unlock the power of AI without needing to replace or migrate their core systems.
Origins of Geniez
The founders of Geniez built their reputation with Model9, a mainframe data-management company. In 2023, BMC Software acquired Model9. With Geniez, the team aims to solve another critical problem: the gap between legacy mainframe systems and new AI technologies.
Mainframes remain deeply embedded in industries like banking, insurance, government, and retail. These systems hold sensitive and mission-critical data. However, integrating them with modern AI has proven expensive and slow. Geniez intends to bridge this divide. It gives AI models access to both real-time and historical mainframe data without the need for complex migrations.
The Problem Geniez Solves
Mainframes have a reputation for reliability, security, and processing power. Large institutions continue to use them for transactions, compliance, and record keeping. At the same time, companies want to leverage AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Llama to automate processes, improve customer service, and analyze data at scale.
The problem arises when these modern AI systems cannot directly access mainframe data. Companies often spend millions of dollars to migrate their data to cloud platforms or build custom integration layers. These processes carry risks of errors, downtime, and security breaches.
Geniez addresses this issue directly. Its framework allows AI models to connect to mainframes without moving data around. This reduces costs, saves time, and keeps sensitive information safe inside the trusted environment of the mainframe.
How Geniez Works
Geniez has built a technology framework that serves as a bridge between large language models and mainframe data systems. AI models can interact with mainframe databases, transaction logs, and files in real time.
This means that a financial institution can ask an AI model to generate insights based on decades of customer transaction history. An insurance company can use AI agents to review old claims and detect patterns. A government department can apply AI to both current and archival records without leaving the mainframe environment.
Geniez does not force companies to abandon their mainframes or duplicate data in the cloud. Instead, it allows AI to come directly to the data source. This design ensures both efficiency and security.
The Funding Round
StageOne Ventures and Canapi Ventures led the six million dollar seed round. Both investors expressed strong confidence in the Geniez team and its technology.
Yuval Cohen, managing partner at StageOne Ventures, praised the founders’ proven track record. He highlighted how their earlier success with Model9 gave them the expertise to tackle another critical challenge in enterprise technology.
Neil Underwood, general partner at Canapi Ventures, explained why financial institutions need Geniez. He pointed out that banks and other financial firms still run most of their core operations on mainframes. Geniez can unlock value for these organizations by combining the trust of the mainframe with the innovation of AI.
Plans for Growth
Geniez will use the seed funding to grow its engineering and go-to-market teams. The company wants to recruit more developers, data engineers, and AI specialists to refine its framework. It also plans to hire sales and partnership managers who can connect the company with banks, insurers, and government agencies.
Another goal involves strengthening partnerships with leading generative AI platforms. Geniez will integrate more closely with popular AI models to ensure compatibility, speed, and accuracy. The startup also intends to create joint solutions with enterprise software providers. These collaborations will help companies adopt AI without changing their core infrastructure.
Importance for the Market
Geniez’s solution arrives at a critical time. Organizations worldwide face pressure to adopt AI quickly. At the same time, they cannot simply discard decades of investment in mainframe systems. Many executives find themselves caught between tradition and innovation.
Geniez offers a practical way forward. It allows companies to enhance operations with AI while continuing to trust their existing systems. This balanced approach reduces resistance to AI adoption. It also increases the potential reach of generative AI into industries that previously viewed integration as too difficult or risky.
Industries That Benefit
Several industries stand to gain from Geniez’s approach:
- Banking: Banks can analyze customer behavior, predict credit risks, and improve fraud detection using AI connected directly to mainframe data.
- Insurance: Insurers can use AI to examine past claims, automate processing, and detect anomalies without moving data outside secure systems.
- Government: Public-sector institutions can modernize citizen services, streamline processes, and manage historical records with AI agents.
- Retail: Large retailers can connect decades of sales data with AI models to forecast demand, personalize offers, and optimize supply chains.
Each of these industries relies on mainframes to handle massive amounts of sensitive data. Geniez creates a safe and cost-effective path for them to use AI.
A Founder’s Perspective
Gil Peleg, co-founder and chief executive officer of Geniez, described the company’s mission in clear terms. He said that the team wants to bring together the trust and power of the mainframe with the speed and innovation of AI. Peleg emphasized that this combination can help enterprises compete in a digital economy without discarding their most reliable systems.
Broader Implications
The rise of Geniez reflects a larger trend in technology. Companies want to integrate AI into every aspect of operations, but they also want to protect their existing investments. Startups that offer bridges between old and new systems will likely attract more investor attention.
This funding round also shows how venture capital firms view the AI-mainframe connection as a valuable niche. Instead of betting only on pure AI models, investors now back companies that enable adoption across industries with complex infrastructures.
Conclusion
Geniez has secured six million dollars to tackle one of the most stubborn problems in enterprise technology. Its framework connects large language models and AI agents directly with mainframe systems. By doing so, it allows organizations to harness AI while keeping their trusted infrastructure intact.
The company will expand its team, strengthen partnerships, and bring its solution to banks, insurers, governments, and retailers worldwide. Investors believe in its mission and track record. For enterprises caught between old systems and new demands, Geniez offers a bridge that could redefine how AI and mainframes work together.
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