SAP Acquires German AI Startup Prior Labs for $1.16B, Embraces NemoClaw
On Monday, SAP revealed its plans to acquire the German AI startup Prior Labs for an undisclosed sum, pending regulatory approval. The company intends to allocate €1 billion (around $1.16 billion) over the next four years to transform Prior Labs into a dedicated AI lab specializing in structured data. Sources suggest that the transaction is primarily cash-based, with more than $500 million paid upfront to founders Frank Hutter, Noah Hollmann, and Sauraj Gambhir, who established Prior Labs 18 months ago. The TabPFN model series from Prior Labs has achieved over three million downloads. SAP assured that Prior Labs will continue to offer open-source versions and function independently. The Freiburg-based startup had previously secured $9.3 million in February 2025.
Key facts
- SAP announced acquisition of German AI startup Prior Labs on Monday.
- SAP plans to invest €1 billion ($1.16 billion) over four years into Prior Labs.
- Acquisition is 'almost all cash' with over half a billion dollars upfront for founders Frank Hutter, Noah Hollmann, and Sauraj Gambhir.
- Prior Labs was cofounded 18 months ago and focuses on tabular foundation models (TFMs).
- SAP has blocked OpenClaw and unauthorized agent tech, authorizing only SAP-endorsed architectures including Joule Agents and Nvidia's NemoClaw.
- Prior Labs' TabPFN model series has been downloaded over three million times.
- Prior Labs will maintain open-source versions and operate as an independent unit.
- Startup raised $9.3 million pre-seed from Balderton Capital in February 2025.
Entities
Institutions
- SAP
- Prior Labs
- OpenClaw
- Nvidia
- NemoClaw
- Joule Agents
- Balderton Capital
- Pathfounders
- CNBC
- TechCrunch
- The Information
- Anthropic
- Aleph Alpha
- Cohere
- Salesforce
Locations
- Germany
- Freiburg
- Europe