Ghent-based startup Donna has made waves in the European tech scene with its recent $4.8 million seed funding round aimed at improving CRM adoption and reducing administrative burdens for field sales teams. As someone who has bootstrapped my own startups without external funding, I find it fascinating to explore how innovative solutions like Donna are transforming traditional sales processes while driving efficiency for those often overlooked in the corporate world.
Donna is an AI assistant developed specifically for field sales professionals who face unique challenges, including excessive admin work and underwhelming CRM tools often designed for use at desks. By addressing these problems, Donna enables sales teams to focus on selling rather than getting bogged down in repetitive tasks. Through automating meeting prep, note-taking, and CRM updates after client visits, field sales professionals gain valuable time for stronger outreach and increased productivity.
The founding team, Nicolas Christiaen, Jonas Deprez, and Xander Berkein, are all seasoned entrepreneurs from the Ghent startup ecosystem. Their backgrounds, ranging from fintech to retail analytics, give them firsthand knowledge of the inefficiencies plaguing sales operations. According to the Donna team, their product already boasts 200 active users and includes integrations with popular CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot.
What Makes Donna Stand Out?
Here’s why Donna caught my attention: it doesn’t stop at merely capturing data. It’s designed to offer hyper-contextual summaries, real-time CRM updates via messaging platforms like WhatsApp and iMessage, and automatic drafting of follow-up emails. This scalability is particularly relevant to female founders like myself who know how resource-intensive customer interactions can be for small teams.
Their reduction in admin time, by as much as 75%, offers an impressive benchmark for other startups. Add to that up to 20% higher conversion rates due to detailed and accurate CRM updates, and you begin to see why investors like Frontline Ventures stepped in alongside Pitchdrive and Fortino.
Key Takeaway for Female Entrepreneurs
Many female entrepreneurs I mentor through my initiative Fe/male Switch have asked me how to manage time when juggling client relationships alongside operational tasks. Donna embodies a mindset shift: automating support functions allows founders to scale their business and increase efficiency without simply “hiring more hands.”
Having built and bootstrapped my companies entirely on personal effort, I recommend closely examining tools like Donna as part of your operational strategy. Automation doesn’t replace human connection, it strengthens your output, making personal interactions more impactful.
Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting AI Tools for Sales
Before jumping on the AI wagon, careful consideration is crucial:
- Overloading your workflow: Avoid the mistake of integrating multiple tools that don’t align. Donna’s simplicity lies in its tailored focus on field sales.
- Neglecting team involvement: If your team doesn’t embrace the tool fully, CRM adoption rates drop, wasting time and money.
- Ignoring real-world testing: Many startups purchase tools before seeing how they work in action. Testing Donna with real users first gives you evidence of usability.
How Female-Run Teams Can Leverage AI Like Donna
Field sales often demand heavy multitasking and attention to detail. As someone who has worked extensively in education and tech, incorporating AI solutions like Donna can lead to a new level of operational efficiency for female-run teams:
- Time-saving advantages: Less admin work leaves more time for high-impact sales strategies. This is essential for startups with lean teams.
- Improved data quality: Accurate CRM updates ensure that future strategies rely on a solid foundation.
What I personally love is Donna’s potential to boost confidence in sales roles. For women stepping into tech entrepreneurship, reducing repetitive tasks can foster creativity and strategic thinking. That’s exactly the kind of purposeful impact, and balance, I aim for in my startups.
A Quick Guide to Smart AI Integration in Sales Operations
- Analyze pain points: Identify which tasks eat up the most time or are often forgotten. Meeting follow-ups? CRM updates? Start from there.
- Pilot essential features: Test a tool on your pain points to validate its use. Donna excels because it simplifies complex tasks unique to field roles.
- Train the team: Ensure your team understands the tool’s benefits fully. Consider showcasing the results after one week of use to build internal advocacy.
- Track changes: Keep tabs on admin hours saved and sales pipeline improvements. Be prepared to pivot or tweak the workflow as needed.
Lessons Every Female Entrepreneur Can Learn
- Invest carefully: Understand the value proposition completely before investing in tools.
- Prioritize simplicity: Tools like Donna thrive because they address one specific pain point rather than trying to do everything.
- Know your audience: The integration of communication apps like WhatsApp makes Donna relatable for teams who rely on messaging platforms more than spreadsheets.
As a female founder in the tech landscape, I advocate choosing tools that amplify productivity without increasing complexity. Donna’s model of combining automation with contextual insights represents the kind of innovation that can uplift growing teams, especially women-led ones.
Conclusion
Donna’s solution sets a strong example for leveraging AI in nuanced ways, creating a simple yet powerful structure to reduce admin time and empower sales professionals. Its focus on deskless workers fills a gap often missed by traditional CRM platforms, making it an excellent consideration for entrepreneurs looking to scale effectively.
If you want to learn more about Donna’s capabilities, you can find their story on Tech Funding News. It’s tools like these that remind us how much smarter work can be when innovation meets practicality, something every entrepreneur, especially women in STEM, deserves to explore.
FAQ
1. What is Donna?
Donna is an AI assistant designed to help field sales teams by automating tasks like meeting preparation, note-taking, CRM updates, and follow-up emails. It focuses on reducing admin workload and improving productivity. Learn more about Donna
2. Who are the founders of Donna?
Donna was founded by Nicolas Christiaen, Jonas Deprez, and Xander Berkein, experienced entrepreneurs from the Ghent startup ecosystem with backgrounds in fintech and retail analytics. Discover the founders' journey
3. What challenges does Donna address?
Donna tackles the excessive administrative burden faced by field sales teams, such as updating CRM data, drafting follow-ups, and managing repetitive tasks often unsuitable for mobile environments. Understand Donna's mission
4. Who led Donna’s recent funding round, and how much did they raise?
Donna recently raised $4.8 million in seed funding, with Frontline Ventures leading the investment. Pitchdrive, Fortino, and other backers also participated. Learn about the funding
5. How does Donna integrate with existing tools?
Donna seamlessly connects with major CRM platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot and communicates via popular apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and email, enhancing workflows without disruption. Explore Donna’s integrations
6. What results has Donna achieved for its users?
Donna has reduced admin time by up to 75%, increased CRM adoption 10-fold, and improved sales conversion rates by as much as 20%, showcasing its impact on productivity and efficiency. Discover Donna’s impact
7. What makes Donna unique compared to other AI tools?
Donna is specifically designed for field sales teams, providing automation for nuanced, repetitive tasks. Its hyper-contextual briefings and real-time updates make it stand out from traditional desk-based sales tools. Understand Donna’s uniqueness
8. How many active users does Donna currently have?
Donna currently serves over 200 active users, including major clients from industries like foodservice, real estate, and business services. Read more about Donna's growth
9. Who are Donna’s investors?
Investors include Frontline Ventures, Pitchdrive, and Fortino Capital, among others. These firms are known for supporting innovative SaaS and AI startups. Check out Donna’s investors
10. What are Donna’s expansion plans?
Donna plans to expand into the North American market in 2026, enhance its AI capabilities, and attract top talent to further refine its product offerings. Discover Donna’s roadmap
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.
