Donna
Ghent, BE · 72 employees on LinkedIn · 7 known investors
Donna is a proactive AI assistant for field sales teams that automates meeting preparation, note-taking, CRM updates, and follow-up drafting. The platform integrates with major CRMs to help sales representatives reduce administrative work and focus on customer interactions.
Also known as askdonna · Dealside BV
Founders & leadership
Investors · 7
Also in the syndicate · 3
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeed RoundDec 2025Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Donna, operated by the Belgian entity Dealside BV and headquartered in Ghent, develops a proactive AI assistant purpose-built for field sales teams. The product listens to customer conversations both online and in person, transcribes and structures them into notes, prepares hyper-personalized meeting briefings, surfaces insights and key takeaways, and then executes or proposes follow-up actions such as creating and updating CRM contacts and opportunities, preparing quotes, scheduling follow-up meetings and drafting follow-up emails. Reps can interact with the assistant by text, voice note or phone call, which is positioned for use while travelling between customer visits.
The assistant connects to CRM, email and calendar systems including Salesforce, SAP (C4C and V2), Microsoft Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Outlook and Google Calendar, and supports custom CRM objects and fields. Calendar integration is used to give the assistant awareness of a rep's next appointments. According to the company, the platform is ISO 27001 certified and compliant with GDPR, CCPA and SOC 2, data is encrypted in transit, and customer data is not used to train the company's or third-party AI models. Service is offered in more than 40 languages.
Customers and reference accounts named across company and press material include ABB, Atlas Copco, Luminus, Liantis, Biobest, Döhler, Puratos, RAPS, Stanley/Stella, DPG Media, Boss Paints Belgium, Bonana, Indie Group, ERA Real Estate and Santens. The company also names Plaud, PwC and Deloitte as strategic partners whose ecosystems distribute or endorse the product.
Founding story
The idea originated from co-founder Nicolas Christiaen's observation while leading a sales team that his top-performing rep avoided the admin burden because of a personal assistant, named Dana, who handled post-visit work. The founders set out to make equivalent support available to every field rep through an assistant that takes initiative rather than waiting to be asked.
Business model
Donna sells a B2B software assistant that layers onto enterprise CRM, email and calendar systems, deployed to field sales organizations; onboarding is described as taking under two weeks for most teams, with setup completed in under a month and supported by the company's team.
Traction
Company materials cite more than 100 companies helped, 10x more data captured, 200%+ year-on-year growth, 20% higher sales conversion rates, a 75% reduction in admin time and a 4.9/5 rating on G2. Press coverage states the product launched in 2023 and has been adopted by global brands including ABB, Atlas Copco, Luminus and Liantis, with services in over 40 languages. Customer references report a 5x increase in CRM data quality (ERA Real Estate) and improved reporting consistency.
Latest developments
In December 2025 Donna announced a $4.8 million seed round led by Frontline Ventures with participation from Pitchdrive, Fortino Capital, WeLoveFounders, Syndicate One, New School, Everywhere Ventures and angel investors, to be used for deepening AI capabilities, product development and scaling go-to-market operations in Europe and the US from hubs in New York, London and Ghent.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Positioned as an AI assistant purpose-built for field sales rather than a generic AI meeting assistant or inside-sales tool, emphasizing proactivity, mobile and in-car usage, and deep CRM integration. Frontline Ventures, which led the seed round, characterized field sales as an overlooked market underserved by existing tooling.
The company differentiates on field-sales specificity: capture of in-person as well as online conversations, voice-to-voice and voice-note interaction for reps on the road, proactive initiation of post-visit work, support for heavily customized CRM setups, and rapid time to value at enterprise scale.
Technology
A multimodal AI system that combines multiple AI models for text, voice-note and voice-to-voice interaction. It records and transcribes online and in-person meetings, interprets context in real time, generates summaries and insights, and performs or proposes actions in connected systems. Integration layer handles standard and custom CRM objects and fields; the company states ISO 27001 certification, GDPR, CCPA and SOC 2 compliance, encryption in transit and no use of customer data for model training.
Go-to-market
Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales via demo requests and a partner channel: the company runs a "Become a Partner" process covering a partner model alignment call, an onboarding pack with training, playbook and partner portal, and joint go-to-market with lead tracking. Plaud, PwC and Deloitte are named as strategic partners distributing the product across their ecosystems. Seed proceeds are earmarked for hiring across product and go-to-market roles in Europe and the US.
Field sales teams and their managers at global enterprises and mid-market B2B companies, including manufacturing, industrial, food ingredients, building products, energy, media, real estate and insurance/HR services organizations; managers are addressed with visibility into field activity and CRM data quality.
Geography
Headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, with additional hubs in New York and London; customers are concentrated in Europe, and the product supports more than 40 languages. Expansion plans target further hiring in Europe and the US.
History
Company material states Donna was co-founded in 2024 by Nicolas Christiaen (CEO), Jonas Deprez (COO) and Xander Berkein (CTO), while press coverage dates the founding to 2023 and the product launch to 2023. Before Donna, Christiaen founded the treasury/liquidity fintech Cashforce, which he led as CEO through an exit to TIS where he became Chief Commercial Officer, and was a Venture Partner at AMAVI Capital; Deprez founded retail data intelligence company Daltix and led it through an exit to Colruyt Group; Berkein was previously a senior engineering leader at Deliverect and held technical roles at startups including Yoboo. In December 2025 the company announced a $4.8 million seed round led by Frontline Ventures.
Risks & controversies
The product records online and in-person customer conversations, which the company notes is subject to jurisdiction-specific notice and consent requirements; it states controls are provided to support compliance. Sources also disagree on founding details: the company site gives a 2024 founding with co-founder Xander Berkein, while press coverage gives 2023 and names Xander Blomme, and describes Jonas Deprez as co-CEO rather than COO.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with Donna for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsCompany site names Plaud, PwC and Deloitte as strategic partners endorsing and distributing Donna across their ecosystems.
Company states the platform is ISO 27001 certified and compliant with GDPR, CCPA and SOC 2.
Donna (Dealside BV) announced a $4.8 million seed round led by Frontline Ventures with participation from Pitchdrive, Fortino Capital, WeLoveFounders, Syndicate One, New School, Everywhere Ventures and angel investors, to accelerate product development and scale go-to-market in Europe and the US.
$4.8M source ↗
The company reported teams/hubs in New York, London and Ghent, with plans for additional hires in Europe and the US following the seed round.
Press coverage states Donna launched in 2023 and has since been adopted by global brands including ABB, Atlas Copco, Luminus and Liantis.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
Ahead of budget rollout, Donna Deegan warns against Council putting spending 'below the line'floridapolitics.com · Jul 2026▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Donnaaskdonna.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Donna do?
- Belgian company building a proactive AI assistant that automates admin and CRM work for field sales teams.
- Who founded Donna?
- Donna was founded by Nicolas Christiaen.
- Who are Donna's investors?
- Donna's investors include Everywhere Ventures, Frontline Ventures, Syndicate One, Fortino Capital.
- Where is Donna headquartered?
- Donna is headquartered in Ghent, BE.