Refreshworks raises €750,000 from eleven angel investors for AI services to businesses

The Hague-based Refreshworks has closed a funding round of €750,000. The capital comes from eleven angel investors with backgrounds in technology, compliance, security and consultancy. Simon Neefjes, founder of advertising agency TBWA\NEBOKO, has become a shareholder as part of the round.

Refreshworks was founded in 2016 by Diederik Klever and Ebel Slijp and focuses on AI strategy and compliance for organisations looking to adapt their operations to new technology. The company is based on the Fluwelen Burgwal in The Hague. With the new funding, Refreshworks aims to accelerate its own growth and guide more Dutch companies in applying artificial intelligence.

According to data from the DutchStartup database, Refreshworks's total external funding now stands at just over €809,000.

What Refreshworks does and for whom

Refreshworks describes itself as an agency for AI business transformations. In practice, this means training programmes, strategy trajectories and implementation guidance for organisations that want to deploy AI in their processes. Since its founding, the company has worked with more than 250 businesses, including AkzoNobel, Brunel and clothing company Girav. More than 2,500 professionals have completed a training course through the agency.

Refreshworks also quantifies the impact of the technology implementations it has guided. That figure amounts to more than €120 million in business impact, although the company itself does not provide a detailed breakdown of how that calculation is constructed. Last year, Refreshworks received an FD Gazelle Award, a distinction for fast-growing Dutch companies.

The eleven investors who participated in the round come from a range of sectors. By bringing sector expertise on board alongside capital, Refreshworks aims to expand its network and strengthen its position in the AI advisory market.

Use of the funding

The company intends to deploy the €750,000 raised for further growth. Concrete plans, such as expanding the team or investing in specific products, have not been made public. Refreshworks has indicated, however, that it wants to better prepare Dutch businesses for what it calls the fourth industrial revolution, a term referring to the broad integration of digital technology, automation and AI into business processes.

The involvement of Simon Neefjes fits that picture. As the founder of TBWA\NEBOKO, he has experience in strategic brand building and guiding organisational change in a commercial context. Whether his role is purely financial or also includes an advisory component has not been confirmed in the available information.

Following the round, Refreshworks remains a relatively small player by capital standards, but its client base of more than 250 companies and its training activities give the agency a visible position in the Dutch AI services market.

The AI advisory market in the Netherlands

Refreshworks's funding round coincides with a period in which demand for AI advice and implementation guidance is visibly increasing among Dutch companies. Both large corporates and SMEs are seeking external parties to help them assess AI applications, ensure compliance under European regulation such as the AI Act, and train employees.

This is also attracting investors, although early-stage funding for this type of AI services business continues to come predominantly from angels and smaller funds. In the Dutch market, venture capital more often flows to companies with a scalable software product than to advisory and training agencies. The angel route that Refreshworks chose, with investors from adjacent sectors, aligns with how comparable agencies in the Netherlands raise their first external capital.

For other founders in the AI services space, the round demonstrates that sector-specific angels, individuals with backgrounds in compliance, technology and consultancy, are willing to invest early when an agency can demonstrate a proven client base and tangible impact.