Daphni Leads $4M Seed in Certo to Automate Beauty and CPG Compliance

Certo uses purpose-built AI agents to check products against live regulations across dozens of markets, as new EU rules on microplastics, greenwashing and allergens pile fresh complexity onto regulatory teams.

Certo, a Paris-based startup that builds AI-powered compliance software for the beauty and consumer goods industries, has raised $4 million in seed funding to accelerate product development and expand internationally.

The round was led by Daphni, with participation from Entrepreneurs First, Motier Ventures and Transpose Platform. Certo is also advised by Alexandre Godvin and Vincent Delacourt, co-founders of AQM, which Eurofins acquired.

Consumer packaged goods companies that sell across borders must meet regulatory requirements in dozens of jurisdictions, by the company’s account as many as 150, each with its own rules on ingredients, formulas, claims, labeling and packaging.

Newer EU measures covering microplastics, greenwashing, packaging waste and allergen classification have added further layers, yet many regulatory teams still work through manual cross-checks, scattered spreadsheets and siloed document systems before a product can reach the shelf.

“Regulatory reviews are the critical path for every product launch, but the process hasn’t changed in decades,” said Bastien Deliège-Coste, CEO and co-founder of Certo.

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The platform covers the full compliance lifecycle through five modules: raw material and ingredient homologation, formula compliance, claims verification, artwork and labeling checks, and market entry documentation.

Rather than running general-purpose models over regulatory text, Certo uses specialized AI agents for each task, checking products against applicable regulations, internal company standards and retailer-specific requirements, and returning findings with detailed reasoning and source citations so the work is traceable and auditable.

The modules draw on a proprietary regulatory database that is continuously updated across major markets including the European Union, United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Latin America.

The company says its platform is already deployed with global beauty groups, specialty brands, retailers and regulated consumer goods companies across Europe and the United States, unusually heavy enterprise adoption for a seed-stage firm.

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“We didn’t start with a product and then look for customers,” said Jean Duquenne, CTO and co-founder of Certo. He said the team began by sitting with regulatory staff to understand how they actually review products, which is why adoption has been quick.

Daphni partners Briac Lescure and Jonas Simonin said that as Certo builds the proprietary data and trust layer connecting brands, suppliers and regulators, they see “the foundation for something much larger than a compliance tool.”

The fresh capital will go toward expanding Certo’s engineering and in-house regulatory teams, deepening multi-market coverage, accelerating development across all five modules, and scaling commercial operations in Europe and the United States.

The pitch rests on a bet that the durable advantage is data and trust, not the AI itself. Compliance records are sticky, and a system that becomes the place a brand clears products across markets is hard to rip out.

The open question is whether large testing and certification groups, the kind that have already been acquiring companies in this space, move to build or buy similar agent-based tools before Certo’s data layer compounds into a real moat.

Disclaimer: Reporting is based on Certo’s press release; figures and company details are accurate as of the time of publication and may be subject to change.

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