Hg, the London investor with over $110 billion in assets under management, announced on 3 November an agreement to invest, with participation from Anthropic and angel investors, in a new AI transformation company for European businesses. Hg says the company will build on Claude, with forward deployed engineers, and will formally launch later this year as an independent entity.
The release confirms what the Financial Times reported on 23 October, citing people familiar with the matter. Anthropic’s amended S-1, filed on 2 November, sizes its business outside the United States: customers billed there brought in $9.77 billion of its $33.24 billion revenue in the first nine months of 2026, or 29%, by our arithmetic. The filing does not break out Europe.
Business Pill · Forward Deployed Engineers
A one-minute Business Engineer explainer of what a forward deployed engineer does. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss Hg, Anthropic or the new company.
The key insight: As we read it, the new element is the confirmation: Hg’s release puts on the record the European services company the FT reported on 23 October, with Anthropic as a participating investor and forward deployed engineers building on Claude.
According to Hg’s release, the new company will work with organizations “to advance AI adoption and AI-native product build, moving beyond pilots to measurable operational impact.” It says the firm will help businesses “move beyond simply adopting AI to building real, defensible advantage from it.”
The release describes it as built for Europe, supporting businesses with distinctive IP, deep domain expertise and long-standing customer relationships that operate across “a uniquely complex landscape of languages and regulatory regimes.”
Hg’s co-CEOs, Steve Batchelor and JB Brian, said: “This builds on Hg’s early conviction in the transformational power of AI.” Steve Corfield, Anthropic’s Head of Global Business Development and Partnerships, said: “Businesses are looking for experienced teams to help them put Claude to work. We’re proud to invest in companies like this as they grow to meet that need.”
Anthropic revenue by customer billing address, International versus United States, from its amended S-1 filed on 2 November 2026. Percentages are our arithmetic from the dollar figures; the table has no European line.
From Report to Release
On 23 October we reported that Anthropic and Hg plan a European AI consultancy, based on the FT’s report that the two had agreed to launch a company by the end of 2026 to embed AI consultants and engineers into European businesses. Hg’s release now puts the deal on the record, with Hg as the investor announcing it and Anthropic participating alongside angel investors.
The two firms already work together. On 21 September Hg announced a strategic venture with Anthropic to bring Claude’s agentic capabilities to its portfolio through Hg Catalyst, its AI product incubator. Hg said then that its portfolio had over 1,600 live AI projects, representing over $260m of budgeted EBITDA impact.
Hg’s 3 November release says its portfolio spans around 60 businesses worth over $195 billion in aggregate enterprisevalue, employing more than 140,000 people. The release does not say whether those companies will be clients of the new firm.
Anthropic’s May Services Company
Anthropic also backed a services company in May. On 4 May Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs announced a new AI services company for mid-sized companies, in which Applied AI engineers from Anthropic work alongside the firm’s engineering team. Anthropic’s chief financial officer, Krishna Rao, said then that “Enterprise demand for Claude is significantly outpacing any single delivery model.”
The amended S-1 describes Ode with Anthropic, an AI services company launched “in partnership with leading private equity firms”. It also says Anthropic agreed in May 2026 “to invest $325 million in a newly formed entity that will help accelerate AI adoption across mid-sized companies.” We first covered that line when Anthropic agreed to invest $325 million in the original S-1.
Separately, the S-1/A says Anthropic has made additional funding commitments to equity-method investees of up to $325 million, of which $265 million remained unfunded as of 30 September. That leaves $60 million funded, by our arithmetic. The filing does not tie that line to a named company.
Where the Revenue Sits
The S-1/A splits revenue by the billing address of the customer into two lines, United States and International. International revenue was $7 million of $41 million in 2023, $123 million of $386 million in 2024 and $1,223 million of $4,585 million in 2025, or 17%, 32% and 27%, by our arithmetic.
In the nine months to 30 September 2026 it was $9,772 million of $33,242 million, or 29%, against $735 million of $2,545 million, also 29%, a year earlier. The table gives no European figure, so the share of that revenue billed in Europe is not known from the filing.
The S-1/A says customers can adopt Claude through systems integrators such as Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, and that its Applied AI teams “include forward-deployed engineers”. We have tracked the wider shift in our piece on AI labs becoming services firms and on the deployment gap OpenAI built a team to close.
Connecting the Coverage
Our related pieces on AI labs and the services layer:
As we read it, the release changes who stands in front: our 23 October piece relayed the FT’s description of a company backed by Anthropic and Hg, while Hg’s release has Hg announcing the investment and Anthropic participating.
As we read it, the target client differs from May’s: Hg’s release describes European businesses with distinctive IP and long-standing customer relationships, while Anthropic’s 4 May post named mid-sized companies.
As we read the S-1/A, revenue billed outside the United States held at 29% of the total in the first nine months of both 2025 and 2026, by our arithmetic, while the dollar amount rose from $735 million to $9,772 million.
Steve Corfield, Anthropic, in Hg’s release of 3 November 2026
“Businesses are looking for experienced teams to help them put Claude to work.”
Three Implications
FOR ANTHROPIC The S-1/A lists systems integrators, consultants and Ode with Anthropic as routes to customers beyond its direct teams; the Hg company, per Hg’s release, is a separate firm built on Claude for European businesses.
FOR HG Its 21 September release cited over 1,600 live AI projects across its portfolio; the 3 November release does not say whether portfolio companies will be clients.
FOR EUROPEAN BUSINESSES Hg’s release says the company will work with organizations on moving beyond pilots to measurable operational impact, and will formally launch later this year.
The framework puts it this way: the rise of forward-deployed engineering shows that “technical capability has far outpaced organizational readiness”.
As we read it, Hg’s release frames the new company around that gap, working with organizations on “moving beyond pilots to measurable operational impact”. The framework does not discuss Hg, Anthropic’s investment or this company.
What Is Not Established
Hg’s release, as we read it, gives no investment amount, ownership split, company name or chief executive, and Artificial Lawyer, which reported the release on 3 November, also notes that the brand name and leader were not given. We did not find a separate post on the deal in Anthropic’s newsroom when we checked at 10:55 UTC on 3 November; Anthropic’s comment is in Hg’s release.
It is not established whether Anthropic’s stake in the new company is accounted for like the commitments in its S-1/A, or whether Litera, the legal-technology company Artificial Lawyer describes as Hg-owned, has any role; Artificial Lawyer says the release made no mention of it. The 29% share is our arithmetic from the filing and covers all non-US billing, not Europe alone. We did not contact Hg or Anthropic.
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Hg says it will invest, with Anthropic and angel investors, in an independent European firm that builds on Claude with forward deployed engineers and launches later this year. Anthropic also backed a services company with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs in May. Its S-1/A shows 29% of its nine-month revenue billed outside the United States, by our arithmetic, with no European breakdown.
A note on sourcing. This piece is based on Hg’s press releases of 3 November and 21 September 2026, Anthropic’s amended Form S-1 filed with the SEC on 2 November 2026, Anthropic’s post of 4 May 2026 and Artificial Lawyer’s report of 3 November. Percentages and the $60 million funded figure are our arithmetic. We did not contact Hg or Anthropic.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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