In late November 2025, the tech and finance worlds were abuzz with reports of a $38 billion move set to redefine the future of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Banks are negotiating a significant loan package for OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage Data Centers to fund the expansion of state-of-the-art facilities dedicated to AI research and development. As a female entrepreneur and founder of the startup Fe/male Switch, this colossal financing initiative sparks my curiosity and reflects the reality of what scaling in tech requires. For founders, particularly women starting businesses in Europe, this moment offers far more than headlines, it’s a lesson in ambition, risk, and opportunity.
Big Deals and Bigger Bets
This collaboration and its scale send a strong message: the race in AI development has reached unprecedented heights. OpenAI’s need for computing power to train and deploy advanced AI models like ChatGPT has turned into a mammoth cost-driver. The $38 billion backing from banks, combined with earlier commitments like Oracle’s five-year $300 billion contract to supply cloud computing resources, shows the stakes for becoming a leader in AI innovation.
For context, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta collectively invested around $300 billion in AI-centric data centers and related technology just this year, parallel to OpenAI's own expansion plan. For anyone in the startup space, particularly women, this should raise two questions: how do I navigate such high-stake partnerships, and what lessons can I take from OpenAI’s drive toward growth?
Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs on Scaling Greatness
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Strategic Partnerships Can Be Game-Changing
OpenAI diversifying away from its long-standing reliance on Microsoft by exploring partnerships with Oracle and other giants is a calculated move. It’s an example of how partnerships can be leveraged to reduce risk. For entrepreneurs, this underscores that no matter how self-sufficient you might aspire to be, strategic alliances can serve as lifelines, especially when navigating volatile markets. I’ve seen firsthand how collaboration can amplify resources , our non-profit arm at Fe/male Switch has thrived by working with organizations across Europe. It’s about matching a shared vision, even when your foundations are different. -
Ambition Requires Infrastructure Support
Building something visionary often demands resources well beyond initial funding. OpenAI’s necessity for not just millions but billions of dollars highlights the gap between vision and execution. If you’re dreaming big, start planning for the infrastructure needed to bring your idea to life. This doesn’t have to mean billions of euros; instead, think in terms of the real costs, reliable budgets, and the potential metrics that will win over funding. -
Revenue Doesn’t Always Come First – But Have a Plan
OpenAI is riding high on potential, not profitability. This is a situation that’s risky but often paralleled by early-stage startups. The difference is how prepared and communicative you are with stakeholders. Have a path to monetization, transparent goals, and an alignment with the values your customers care about.
The Risks You Should Avoid as a Startup Founder
While it’s inspirational, OpenAI’s big bet comes with significant risks, a timely reminder for entrepreneurs about what not to do in a high-growth business:
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Overextending Without a Safety Net: OpenAI is taking on staggering financial risks, counting heavily on projected growth. Startups in their early years haven't built client trust yet, so keep your initial costs lean to avoid overexposure.
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Overestimating the Market: AI has massive potential, but underestimating adoption timelines could spell trouble. Make sure your forecasts are based on tangible benchmarks and not overly optimistic assumptions.
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Ignoring the Human Factor: Scaling isn’t just about money, your team’s alignment is critical. A misaligned team could undo all the progress made through external investments or partnerships.
Where to Start? A Practical Guide for Female Entrepreneurs
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Define Your Big Vision
Just as OpenAI aims for global AI leadership, you must be clear about your own mission. Write it down. Define who your project will benefit and what change it aims to achieve. -
Work on Your Network
Building relationships with banks or large partners is hard, but connections lead to collaborations. Join incubators or accelerators like Yes!Delft or Startup Leap to start building these vital relationships. -
Focus on Early Monetization
You don’t need OpenAI’s billions, but every business needs cash on hand. I’ve learned through hard-won lessons in bootstrapping that generating revenue early saves headaches later. Try models like pre-sales or mixing grant funding with product sales. -
Collaborate Before Scaling
Before deciding to grow, test everything. My experience as a serial entrepreneur has taught me that scaling prematurely can turn small mistakes into large ones. Build partnerships and repeatable processes before taking that leap. -
Stay Indispensable to Your Market
OpenAI positioned itself uniquely before seeking this astronomical funding. For smaller ventures, this means finding your niche and dominating there before expanding.
A Word to the European Female Founder
Europe faces unique challenges when it comes to funding and scaling businesses, especially as a woman entrepreneur. Many of us balance ambition with limitations in resources and face added challenges compared to our male counterparts. OpenAI’s $38B data center investment is a reminder that audacious thinking is not out of our reach. The key lies in understanding the scale of investment, preparing for calculated risk, and doubling down on strategic networks and partnerships. Let’s take these lessons forward and build the next generation of boundary-pushing businesses.
For more details, check updates on OpenAI and Oracle’s partnership.
FAQ
1. What is the recent $38 billion funding for in the AI sector?
The funding is intended to support new data center projects driven by OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage Data Centers to scale AI infrastructure for research and development. Read more about OpenAI's $38 billion initiative
2. Which banks are leading the $38 billion funding deal?
Banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. are reportedly leading the funding negotiations, with multiple others involved. Find details about the bank involvement
3. What role does Oracle play in this initiative?
Oracle is a key partner providing cloud computing infrastructure in conjunction with the $300 billion deal with OpenAI to fuel AI advancements. Explore Oracle's AI cloud strategy
4. How does this initiative compare to similar investments by other tech giants?
Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta collectively spent around $300 billion on AI infrastructure this year, making the OpenAI partnership with Oracle one of the largest individual investments in the space. Learn about other AI investments
5. Why is OpenAI diversifying partnerships apart from Microsoft?
This diversification helps OpenAI reduce dependency on a single partner and strengthen its cloud capabilities through multi-company collaborations with Oracle and Amazon, among others. Understand OpenAI's strategic shift
6. What are the potential risks of pursuing such a large-scale AI infrastructure investment?
The risks include financial overextension given OpenAI’s lack of profitability, potential delays in market adoption, and dependency on external partnerships to scale effectively.
7. How significant is this project for the future of AI research?
This initiative underscores the high-stakes competition for AI dominance, reflecting OpenAI’s ambitious vision to lead the global AI technology space. Read why AI infrastructure is critical
8. What are the lessons for entrepreneurs from this investment?
The deal illustrates the importance of strategic partnerships, robust infrastructure planning, and readiness to take calculated risks, essential strategies for scaling a startup.
9. What does the $38 billion funding reflect about the AI industry?
It highlights increasing capital demands and an AI infrastructure “arms race” as tech companies aim for supremacy in AI applications. Learn about AI infrastructure trends
10. What should female entrepreneurs in Europe learn from OpenAI’s strategy?
Female entrepreneurs should take inspiration from OpenAI by being ambitious, fostering strategic partnerships, developing sustainable infrastructures, and planning for growth through calculated risks. Discover resources for European female founders
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.