Onton, known for its sharp focus on furniture e-commerce, has raised $7.5 million to expand its product range and enter apparel and electronics. As someone who bootstraps and runs multiple startups, I’m always curious about how others approach scaling and diversification, especially when AI plays a key role. Onton's journey offers valuable lessons for founders in Europe, particularly women navigating the tech ecosystem.
Let’s unpack what makes this funding round so interesting. The $7.5 million investment isn’t just about adding products; it’s about leveraging technology to reshape shopping behavior. Onton has scaled its platform from 50,000 monthly users to over two million, thanks to its neuro-symbolic AI architecture. This isn’t the run-of-the-mill machine learning story. Instead, Onton has sidestepped typical AI pitfalls, like hallucinated outputs, by merging neural processing with real-world semantics. That’s a mouthful, but in practice, it means Onton’s recommendations are more reliable, making it easier to trust their product suggestions.
Onton’s expansion into apparel and electronics raises important questions: How do you conquer new markets without losing focus? For female entrepreneurs in Europe especially, scaling a niche startup into broader categories isn’t just challenging, it’s a balancing act. In my own experience bootstrapping Fe/male Switch, clarity and precision around your target audience and value proposition are essential. Onton’s move seems well-timed because it builds on existing momentum without rushing the process.
Funding rounds like Onton’s matter beyond the tech headlines. They teach us how not to become a product-juggling startup. Instead of launching a dozen verticals simultaneously, Onton will first target apparel, a sector with direct competitors like Daydream and Aesthetic. Consumer electronics will come next. The staggered rollout ensures they don’t stretch their resources or dilute their AI’s effectiveness, a common misstep among startups chasing rapid growth.
For startups scaling their tech, Onton reminds us to bet on your strengths. The platform continues adapting its search and discovery tools, introducing features such as multimodal data input**, **combining text, images, and visual prompts to make shopping seamless. It’s the kind of relentless improvement that my own startup game, Fe/male Switch, encourages. By refining your core offering rather than reinventing it, you can grow while your competitors scramble for differentiation.
It’s worth discussing the human side of this expansion too. Onton plans to scale its team, adding five more roles in engineering and research. As every founder knows, culture fits are sometimes more impactful than features. Carefully selecting talent that aligns with your growth vision helps you maintain cohesive operations, a lesson we carry over from incubators and accelerators across Europe.
Are there mistakes to avoid when diversifying like this? Absolutely. Here are some common pitfalls and how to steer clear:
-
Trying to Scale Everything at Once: Expanding vertically is tempting but rarely sustainable. Learn from Onton, test one new category at a time.
-
Ignoring The Tech to Save Money: Skimming on advancements while expanding is risky. Onton keeps its neuro-symbolic AI sharp, which will pay off as they enter competitive areas.
-
Overlooking Customer Feedback: Don’t just trust your gut instinct; listen to what your growing user base says. Onton grew from 50,000 users to two million by aligning their tools with actual customer needs.
-
Underestimating Competitors: Brands like Daydream aren’t just doing similar things, they’re fighting for the same growth. Keep tabs on competitors without obsessing over them.
-
Forgetting to Build A Narrative: The story about what your brand solves matters. Onton’s pivot into broader categories feels cohesive because they are solving the same problem, the buyer’s hesitation in trusting AI suggestions.
So, what lessons should European female founders take from Onton’s latest move? First, handling growth requires patience and prioritization. Even without massive funding, bootstrapped startups can use Onton’s strategy as a guide: test new ideas progressively while anchoring to your core values. Second, AI isn’t just a tech edge anymore; it’s a trust builder. By making its recommendations transparent, Onton earns customer loyalty in an otherwise messy space. And finally, don’t shy away from bringing new people into the fold, it’s OK to expand your team strategically as you grow.
If Onton succeeds, it won’t only be because of funding. It will succeed because it’s systematically solving problems for its users, layering new products through thoughtful strategy, and improving the tech behind the scenes. For those of us scaling startups in Europe, especially in competitive markets, this is exactly the kind of sustainable trajectory we aim for.
Scaling your business? Start small, build systematically, and don’t neglect customer trust. That’s advice I’ve seen work time and again, and Onton’s story strengthens the case. To see how female entrepreneurs across Europe can thrive, don’t miss resources tailored to you on Fe/male Switch.
FAQ
1. What is Onton, and what does it do?
Onton is an AI-powered e-commerce platform originally focused on furniture shopping. Its advanced neuro-symbolic AI helps users find and trust product recommendations, making shopping decisions more efficient and reliable. Learn more about Onton
2. How much funding did Onton raise recently?
Onton raised $7.5 million in November 2025 during its Series A funding round led by Footwork, bringing its total funding to approximately $10 million. Read about Onton’s funding
3. What are Onton’s plans for expansion?
With the new funding, Onton plans to expand its product range to include apparel first and later consumer electronics, entering competitive markets against brands like Daydream and Aesthetic. Learn more about Onton’s expansion
4. What makes Onton’s technology unique?
Onton uses a neuro-symbolic AI architecture that integrates neural networks with real-world semantics. This makes its recommendations more reliable and logical compared to typical AI, which sometimes generates irrelevant or hallucinated outputs. Read about Onton’s AI approach
5. How has Onton managed to grow its user base?
Onton expanded from 50,000 to over 2 million monthly users by aligning its tools with customer needs and leveraging AI to improve trust and shopping experiences. Explore insights on Onton’s growth
6. What’s the strategy behind Onton’s diversification into new markets?
Onton plans a staggered rollout, starting with apparel, to ensure its resources aren’t stretched thin and maintain the effectiveness of its AI platform. Learn more about Onton’s diversification
7. Who are Onton’s main competitors?
In its planned apparel and consumer electronics verticals, Onton faces competition from brands like Daydream and Aesthetic, which also focus on AI-driven shopping solutions. Check out Daydream’s AI platform
8. How does Onton plan to improve its platform as it scales?
Onton will introduce features like multimodal data input (combining text, images, and visual prompts) to enhance user experience and trust as it grows. Discover more about Onton’s platform enhancements
9. How is Onton expanding its team?
Onton plans to add five new roles in engineering and research, emphasizing cultural fit to maintain cohesive operations during its growth. Learn about Onton’s team expansion
10. What lessons can startups learn from Onton’s approach to scaling?
Onton demonstrates the importance of patient, strategic growth by testing new ideas progressively, leveraging core AI competencies, and building trust with users. Explore insights for startups
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.
