Orq.ai, an Amsterdam-based startup, has achieved a significant milestone by raising €5 million in seed funding to address a persistent issue faced by enterprises, the gap between AI prototypes and production-grade systems. This latest funding round highlights a global initiative to move beyond AI experiments and into scalable, reliable solutions that businesses can trust.
As a founder and serial entrepreneur from the Netherlands, I’ve spent years navigating the complexities of building and scaling startups. Orq.ai’s journey strikes a chord with me, particularly because many of the entrepreneurs and women in tech I work with through Fe/male Switch face the same struggles Orq.ai is tackling: how to turn ideas into sustainable, scalable realities.
What Challenges Are Enterprises Facing With AI?
Many businesses experiment with AI, often to showcase shiny demos and prototypes. But when the time comes to roll out production-ready solutions, they hit a wall. Commonly, the roadblocks include:
- Lack of comprehensive tools for development, monitoring, and governance.
- Data privacy and regulatory compliance hurdles, particularly in the European context (think GDPR and the upcoming EU AI Act).
- Complexities in scaling AI capabilities across different infrastructures, cloud, hybrid, or on-premises solutions.
In my experience working with startups, especially bootstrapped ones, these challenges can be overwhelming. A great idea or even an early-stage prototype often stalls due to the limits in existing tools or lack of resources for compliance and operational scalability.
Orq.ai: An All-in-One Solution
What makes Orq.ai stand out? The company offers a single platform designed to unify the entire lifecycle of AI agents, from creation to production. Instead of working with disconnected tools, teams gain a centralized experience to experiment, monitor, and ensure compliance.
Orq.ai’s approach resonates in a business environment where every moment counts. CEOs and their teams get a clear, structured path from development to execution. With support for over 300 Large Language Models (LLMs) and flexible deployment models, Orq.ai offers versatility. Whether governed industries or startups that value data sovereignty, this platform answers a growing demand: enterprise-grade solutions that comply with Europe’s increasingly stringent regulations.
The Funding Round in Detail
Let’s sum this up before diving into actionable insights:
- What happened? Orq.ai raised €5 million in seed funding.
- Who participated? Companies like seed + speed Ventures, Galion.exe, and Curiosity VC led the charge.
- What’s next? Expanding into North America, scaling the platform’s capabilities, and hiring more team members, especially for engineering and sales.
When I bootstrapped my startups, I learned to stretch every euro. It’s impressive to see a startup like Orq.ai not only secure funding but also focus on real gaps in the market.
Lessons for Female Founders in Europe
Building any business takes grit, but as a female entrepreneur immersed in Europe’s startup ecosystem, I know there’s an added layer of challenges. That’s why stories like Orq.ai’s are inspiring, they show what can be done with clear focus. If you’re plotting your entrepreneurial journey, here’s what to take away from their success:
-
Solve a real problem
Enterprises have had trouble scaling AI for years now. Orq.ai honed in on this specific issue and developed a solution that addresses pain points head-on. This is a critical lesson: success often lies in focusing on unsolved challenges rather than chasing hype. -
Build industry-agnostic solutions
By making their platform capable of running across cloud, hybrid, or on-prem setups, Orq.ai isn’t limiting itself to one subset of clients. Female founders can borrow this principle: build products that can adapt to different sectors or user bases. -
Understand regulations, don’t fear them
Regulations, like Europe’s GDPR or the incoming AI Act, don’t have to be barriers. They’re opportunities to provide compliant solutions others might be too intimidated to develop. -
Leverage strategic partnerships
The backing of experienced investors like Galion.exe or seed + speed Ventures demonstrates how important it is to partner with people who align with your mission. Networking can be daunting but crucial. -
Invest in people
Orq.ai plans to scale by bringing more talent on board. As I've learned in my entrepreneurial journey, a committed and empowered team often makes all the difference.
Avoid These Pitfalls
On the flip side, there are missteps entrepreneurs should watch for:
- Overlooking clear use cases: It’s tempting to keep experimenting, but always align efforts with practical results.
- Ignoring compliance from the start: Retroactively implementing safeguards can cost time and trust.
- Forgetting scalability: A solution isn’t useful if it can’t grow with your customers’ needs.
Let’s Talk About the Big Picture
Platforms like Orq.ai are shifting how businesses approach AI, a step toward embedding it deeply within everyday operations, not just as one-off pilots or POCs. This trend signals an exciting shift for entrepreneurs. Whether you’re in deeptech, like me, or a creative industry, there are major opportunities for practical, scalable tools.
And as a serial entrepreneur, I’ve learned how essential it is to think this way from day one. When we launched Fe/male Switch, for example, we didn’t want to just encourage women to dream about STEM careers, we wanted them to experience it hands-on and turn ideas into full-fledged, scalable businesses.
A Quick Summary
To wrap it up: Orq.ai’s thoughtful approach to the AI market, identifying the production gap, addressing real-world challenges, and ensuring compliance, shows exactly how startups can thrive in complex markets. For us female founders, their success offers valuable lessons in focus, adaptability, and resilience.
Whether your next move involves deeptech or tackling another high-impact problem, keep Orq.ai’s trajectory in mind. With preparation, determination, and a clear strategy, scaling becomes not just possible but probable. And if you’re building your first steps into entrepreneurship, join platforms like Fe/male Switch to learn the ropes and get inspired. It’s how great businesses, and founders, begin.
FAQ
1. What is Orq.ai and what problem does it aim to solve?
Orq.ai is an Amsterdam-based startup founded in 2022 that provides an enterprise-grade platform for building, deploying, monitoring, and managing production-grade AI agents. It focuses on bridging the gap between AI prototypes and production-ready systems that meet compliance and data privacy standards like GDPR. Visit Orq.ai's official website
2. How much funding has Orq.ai raised?
Orq.ai raised €5 million in seed funding in December 2025, bringing its total funding to €7.3 million. Read about the funding details on Tech.eu
3. Who are the key investors in Orq.ai's funding round?
Orq.ai's funding round was led by seed + speed Ventures and Galion.exe, with participation from Curiosity VC, Spacetime, XO Ventures, xdeck Ventures, Waves Capital, and GoldenEggCheck. Learn more about seed + speed Ventures | Explore Galion.exe's portfolio
4. What sets Orq.ai apart from other AI platforms?
Orq.ai provides a unified control layer for the entire lifecycle of AI agents, including experimentation, evaluation, deployment, and compliance management, all within one platform. It is designed to support strict data privacy requirements and regulatory compliance such as GDPR and the upcoming EU AI Act.
5. What industries does Orq.ai target with its platform?
Orq.ai targets industries and enterprises that require infrastructure-agnostic deployment models, including cloud, hybrid, and on-premises setups. These clients often operate in regulated sectors where compliance and data sovereignty are crucial.
6. How does Orq.ai address regulatory challenges for enterprises?
Orq.ai’s platform is built with compliance by design principles, offering tools to manage data residency obligations, ensure GDPR adherence, and prepare for the forthcoming EU AI Act.
7. Who are Orq.ai's co-founders and advisors?
Orq.ai was co-founded by Sohrab Hosseini, and the strategic advisory team includes industry leaders such as Adriaan Mol (Mollie Founder) and Daniel Gebler (Picnic CTO). Discover Sohrab Hosseini on LinkedIn
8. What is the next step for Orq.ai following its funding round?
With the latest funding, Orq.ai plans to expand its team across engineering, enterprise sales, and customer success, grow its presence in European markets, and accelerate efforts in North America.
9. Why is solving the AI production gap important for enterprises?
The AI production gap prevents enterprises from scaling AI initiatives from prototypes to reliable, production-grade systems. This challenge arises due to tooling fragmentation, compliance complexity, and difficulties in scaling operations. Learn more about Orq.ai’s mission on Startup Hub
10. What lessons can female founders take from Orq.ai's success?
Female founders can learn key lessons from Orq.ai, such as the importance of solving real problems, building industry-agnostic solutions, embracing regulations as opportunities, leveraging strategic partnerships, and investing in talented teams.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
