The funding will enable Codeplain to expand its AI platform that transforms software specifications written in plain language into production-ready applications
- GapMinder is leading a $3 million seed funding round in Slovenian AI startup Codeplain, alongside Silicon Gardens;
- Codeplain enables developers and AI coding agents to build software from structured specifications written in plain language, automatically generating production-ready code;
- The new funding will accelerate the development of a software engineering workflow where specifications become the primary source for building, updating and maintaining software.
Bucharest, June 30, 2026 – GapMinder, the VC investing in technology startups across Romania and Eastern Europe, is leading a $3 million seed funding round in Slovenian startup Codeplain, alongside Silicon Gardens. Codeplain provides an AI-powered platform that generates production-ready software from specifications written in plain language. The new funding will help the company further develop a new approach to software engineering in which AI coding agents focus on writing and maintaining software specifications, while Codeplain automatically generates, tests and updates the underlying code.
The platform is designed to improve how AI coding agents work by shifting their focus from writing code to creating and maintaining structured specifications. These specifications become the foundation for software development, allowing Codeplain to generate tested and validated implementation code automatically. This approach makes software projects easier to review, maintain and update as systems evolve.
The investment further expands GapMinder’s portfolio of technology and AI companies. Recent investments include InsiderCX (patient experience platform), Design Verse (AI platform that builds enterprise software), SalesTools (AI company that automates the B2B sales process,), VoicePatrol (AI-powered voice moderation for multiplayer games) and Etiq AI.
Codeplain was founded by Dusan Omercevic, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded Cleanshelf, an enterprise SaaS management platform acquired by SAP LeanIX in 2021. Following the acquisition, he joined SAP LeanIX to lead product development. He was also VP of product at Zemanta (acquired by Outbrain). Codeplain operates from offices in Ljubljana, Berlin and San Francisco.
“Codeplain is rethinking how software is built in the AI era by shifting the focus from writing code to managing specifications. We believe this approach has the potential to make software development faster, more reliable and easier to maintain as AI adoption accelerates. We are excited to partner with Dusan and the team as they scale the company internationally,” says Cosmin Ochisor, Partner at GapMinder Ventures.
The $3 million investment comes as software development is rapidly evolving from AI copilots toward autonomous software engineering agents capable of building increasingly complex applications with minimal human intervention. While this dramatically increases development speed, it also creates new challenges around maintaining ever-growing codebases.
“Agentic coding is giving the industry 10 times more code. But unless we fundamentally rethink maintenance, software teams are going to drown in the complexity created by that explosion,” says Dusan Omercevic, founder and CEO of Codeplain.
To address this challenge, Codeplain is building around an emerging concept known as “Phoenix Architecture”, a term popularized by software entrepreneur Chad Fowler. The concept proposes that software should be continuously regenerated from durable specifications rather than maintained through increasingly complex codebases. Instead of treating AI prompts as temporary instructions, Codeplain treats software specifications as long-term assets that can be used to repeatedly generate and regenerate production-ready software as requirements change.
Early customers include DevRev, HYCU and Incode, which use Codeplain to build and maintain integrations across rapidly evolving external APIs. Instead of manually updating code whenever APIs or dependencies change, development teams can simply update the specification and regenerate the implementation.
Codeplain envisions that as AI becomes increasingly capable of generating software, specifications, architectural intent and evaluation frameworks will become the primary assets of software engineering, while code itself becomes dynamically generated and continuously regenerated.
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About Codeplain
*codeplain is an AI-powered code generation platform that produces production-ready software from specifications written in plain language. The company has offices in Ljubljana, Berlin and San Francisco.
About Silicon Gardens
Silicon Gardens is a founders-for-founders VC firm led by the entrepreneurs behind global startups such as Sportradar, Outfit7, Photomath, Microblink, and Celtra. The team is backing ambitious pre-seed and seed founders with ties to Central and Eastern Europe. Across three funds, Silicon Gardens has backed 50+ companies, spanning B2B SaaS, marketplaces, consumer apps, and innovative D2C products. They are currently investing from Fund III (€33M). Some of their existing portfolio companies, such as Bible Chat, BirdBuddy, Daytona, Prepia, Speech Blubs, have already scaled internationally, demonstrating the depth of talent and ambition in this region. Beyond capital, the firm works closely with founders throughout their journey. It also opens access to its highly engaged network of experts and over 120 LPs, who are behind some of the region’s most successful companies, such as Nordeus, Zemanta (Teads), Cosylab, Bitstamp (Robinhood), Coinbase, Httpool, Nicelabel, Kosei (Pinterest). With hubs in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, and San Francisco, Silicon Gardens aims to bridge the CEE region with the US tech ecosystem.
About GapMinder Ventures
GapMinder Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in technology startups created in Romania and Eastern Europe (particularly in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Moldova) that are in the seed or late seed phase and are rapidly expanding internationally. GapMinder takes a hands-on approach as an investor, helping companies with strategic advice and involvement in organizational scaling, financial discipline, corporate governance, and development. GapMinder manages two funds. With the first fund having a total capitalization of €50 million, GapMinder has invested in companies such as Druid.AI, FintechOS, Veridion, Deepstash, Siena.Cx, TypingDNA, Medicai, Cyscale, SmartDreamers, Machinations, Frisbo, and Innoship.io. GapMinder Fund II was launched in 2024 with a target capital of €80 million. The EIF supported GapMinder Fund II through two initiatives: the European Union’s InvestEU program and the Recovery Fund of Funds—part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, co-financed by the EU through Next GenerationEU. GapMinder Fund II is also supported by the EBRD and a number of institutional and private investors.
