Boxd raises $2M to build cloud infrastructure for AI coding agents

Dutch startup Boxd has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to construct cloud computing infrastructure for developers and AI coding agents. The financing round was spearheaded by BlueYard Capital, with involvement from OVNI Capital, Antler, S20, Script Capital, and business angels from General Intuition and other technology firms. Boxd's founders are Michiel Voortman, Laurentiu Ciobanu, and Hidde Kehrer.

The company is constructing infrastructure that supplies virtual machines for developers and AI agents to run code, conduct tests, and oversee software development workflows. As AI coding agents can operate concurrently and demand dedicated, sustained computing environments, traditional development setups often rely on individual virtual machines or containers.

These methods can become challenging to handle when multiple agents are run simultaneously, and allowing coding agents to function unsupervised can also pose security risks.

Boxd's platform enables teams to generate as many cloud machines as necessary and provides snapshotting and live-forking capabilities. This allows developers and AI agents to produce copies of running machines, including their memory and active connections, in under 100 milliseconds. The method is intended to permit multiple agents to simultaneously test different solutions while decreasing the need to configure and maintain distinct development environments.

The startup uses a streamlined virtualization architecture centered on CPU, RAM, storage, and networking, rather than emulating additional hardware like audio devices, webcams, and USB ports. The company asserts that this lowers the software attack surface and aids in mitigating security risks related to running autonomous agents.

Each AI coding agent requires a genuine computer to operate on instead of a disposable sandbox. Current container alternatives have vulnerabilities and lose state once processes conclude. Boxd offers hardware-isolated persistent virtual machines that can be live-forked in milliseconds, allowing developers and autonomous agents to build, test, and deploy safely.

Hidde Kehrer, co-founder of Boxd, stated, "The company will utilize the pre-seed funding to expand its team and further develop its custom virtualization engine as it strives to scale its infrastructure for developers and AI agents."