Ranketta, a startup based in the Czech Republic, has made a bold move by raising €1 million in pre-seed funding to improve the way e-commerce brands perform in AI search. When I first learned about this initiative, something resonated deeply. As someone who has spent years in entrepreneurship, education, and deep-tech industries, I know how important market visibility is, especially for younger startups entering rapidly evolving spaces like artificial intelligence.
Let’s break it down. Ranketta has developed a platform to help brands understand and improve their presence in AI-generated search results. These aren’t traditional search engines like Google. We’re talking about tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, where buying decisions are largely influenced by machine learning models.
Why should you care? In business, visibility isn’t just about ranking high in search results; it’s about being visible in all the places your customer journeys begin. Stake your claim in AI-driven experiences, or risk losing relevance.
What's the story behind Ranketta?
The startup was founded by Vojtěch Oravec, a 21-year-old Czech engineer and AI researcher who has already had quite an impressive trajectory. Before Ranketta, Oravec worked as a software engineer and product manager and conducted AI research under highly respected experts at the Czech Technical University. It sounds similar to my own journey when I was building CADChain, a mix of learning, innovating, and being stubborn enough to prove that unconventional ideas can flourish when paired with actionable strategy.
What struck me is Ranketta’s focus not only on tools that evaluate visibility but also on the structural gaps brands often overlook in AI optimization for searches. They analyze not just "where" a brand shows up but "why." By tracking sentiment, mentions in sources cited by AI, such as blogs and product reviews, and recommendation frequency, they’ve cracked a new level of insights.
Data paints a clear picture
Ranketta’s timing couldn’t be better. Half of consumers now use AI-assisted search to inform their buying decisions, and nearly half are already relying on these systems more than they do on traditional search engines. By 2028, spending influenced by AI-powered searches is projected to hit $750 billion. This is not a space to neglect, especially when fewer than 40% of marketers prioritize optimizing for AI systems. Even fewer, 16% of brands, track their AI search presence.
It isn’t just about being visible on platforms like Shopify or Google. Your online store might look polished and claim success with search engine traffic, but without a foothold on AI recommendations, you’re missing out on a growing segment of customers who educate themselves differently.
How Ranketta plans to scale
After raising €1 million with the support of Lighthouse Ventures and Gi21 Capital, Ranketta has outlined plans to expand across Europe and enter the U.S. market. Part of the funding will also grow their engineering, sales, and product development efforts and deepen integrations with popular e-commerce systems. Their platform includes features like an "AI Copilot" that offers tailored advice for brands to improve search rankings organically.
As someone bootstrapping her projects, including building Fe/male Switch, scaling fast in tech spaces like this would’ve felt like a nearly impossible venture without prioritizing such focused visibility. Ranketta’s targeting strategy shows they’re serious about growing.
Lessons for European female entrepreneurs
Being a European founder myself, I recognize the unique hurdles that women face. Yes, data around AI and visibility may seem technical, but don’t let these highly specialized terms intimidate you. Here’s a guide for turning potential challenges around:
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Research tools early and often: Technologies like Ranketta’s AI visibility tools aren’t just for massive corporations. Regular insights into how your brand gets mentioned online can guide your customer acquisition process.
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Understand how AI shapes buying behavior: Consumers increasingly trust AI systems to recommend products. If you don’t track where your offer appears in AI-driven answers, you may unknowingly cut yourself off from valuable traffic.
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Benchmark vs competitors: Don’t just focus on your analytics, know how competitors perform. Tools like ChatGPT already list top sources; study them and adapt your strategies.
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Think content over volume: Successful AI strategies are built not on producing endless content but with smarter targeting. Matching your product info with sources frequently cited by large language models can double your impact compared to traditional SEO.
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Funding options exist: Bringing something new into the tech space is costly, and raising money is hard. But examples like Ranketta showcase startup opportunities available in Europe for new founders.
Mistakes to avoid
Many entrepreneurs obsess over traditional models of engagement, such as focusing entirely on boosting Google rankings without assessing what modern search tools are favoring. Another mistake is treating AI platforms as secondary, experimental spaces instead of business-critical opportunities in 2023 and beyond. Decisions like these waste opportunities to connect with the next wave of shoppers who rely heavily on AI-curated experiences.
Looking ahead
Ranketta’s approach has confirmed an important shift toward bridging old-school search marketing with AI breakthrough trends. As startups adapt their strategies to step into AI recommendation ecosystems, tools that demystify those channels will grow in utility and demand. This funding round signals growing momentum for companies that can help others stay competitive within the AI-driven marketplace.
Push forward, but always seek to understand the systems shaping your industry first, whether through platforms like Ranketta or broader lessons about customer behavior. When your focus is sharp enough, you’re already preparing for your next breakthrough. Or as I tell players of Fe/male Switch, find points where strategy feels nimble. That’s where growth surprises take shape.
FAQ
1. What is Ranketta?
Ranketta is a Czech startup that offers an AI visibility platform, helping e-commerce and D2C brands optimize their presence in AI-generated search results. It tracks mentions, sentiment, and recommendation frequency across tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Learn about Ranketta
2. Who founded Ranketta?
Ranketta was founded by Vojtěch Oravec, a 21-year-old Czech engineer and AI researcher, who has worked at CIIRC under Tomáš Mikolov and as a product manager before launching Ranketta. Explore Vojtěch Oravec’s background
3. What makes Ranketta unique in AI search?
Ranketta uniquely measures how often individual products appear in AI-generated answers, analyzes sentiment, and identifies why specific items are recommended, allowing brands to optimize their AI search visibility. Discover Ranketta’s solution
4. How much did Ranketta raise in funding?
Ranketta raised €1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Lighthouse Ventures, with participation from Gi21 Capital, to expand its AI visibility platform and grow its team. Learn about Ranketta’s funding
5. What will Ranketta’s funding be used for?
The funding will help Ranketta expand across Europe, enter the US market, grow its engineering and sales teams, and enhance integrations with platforms like Shopify. Explore Ranketta’s growth plans
6. Why is AI search optimization important for brands?
AI search optimization is crucial because 50% of consumers now use AI-powered search for purchasing decisions, and AI-driven spending is projected to reach $750 billion by 2028. Understand AI search optimization
7. How does Ranketta’s platform work?
Ranketta’s platform tracks a brand’s visibility in AI answers, analyzes sentiment, ranks recommendations, and suggests actionable strategies via an AI Copilot feature. Learn about Ranketta’s platform
8. What challenges does Ranketta solve for modern brands?
Ranketta bridges gaps in traditional SEO by targeting visibility in AI-driven answers, a critical area neglected by most marketers and brands. Explore Ranketta’s impact
9. What industries can benefit from Ranketta’s platform?
Ranketta serves e-commerce, D2C, and B2B industries by improving visibility across tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, helping brands better compete in AI shopping results. See Ranketta’s target industries
10. Where is Ranketta headquartered?
Ranketta is headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, and plans to extend its presence across Europe and the United States. Learn about Ranketta's location
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.
