In 2025, Barcelona-based startup Uxia marked a pivotal milestone by securing €1 million in pre-seed funding to develop groundbreaking synthetic-user technology for product teams. This innovation stands to revolutionize how companies validate and optimize their user experience (UX) designs, bringing high-quality usability testing to teams of all sizes. Here is everything you need to know about this exciting development, along with insights by serial entrepreneur Violetta Bonenkamp.
Why Uxia’s Innovation Is a Game-Changer for Product Teams
For decades, user testing has been a cumbersome process, often requiring significant investment of time, money, and resources. This makes it challenging, particularly for lean startups and small teams with limited budgets, to perform thorough user experience (UX) testing. Recognizing this problem, Uxia has devised a scalable solution, automated UX validation powered by synthetic-user technology. But what exactly are "synthetic users"?
Synthetic users are AI-generated profiles trained to simulate human behavior, interactions, and feedback on digital interfaces. By leveraging artificial intelligence, Uxia bridges the gap between traditional research methods and new-age automation, allowing product teams to collect actionable insights in minutes rather than weeks.
Backing the Vision: The Financial Details
Uxia raised nearly €1 million in pre-seed funding, with €750k secured through equity financing and an additional boost expected via an ENISA loan. Backed by key players like Abac Nest Ventures, Encomenda VC, and prominent angel investors including Javier Darriba, co-founder of UserZoom, this funding speaks volumes about industry confidence in Uxia’s disruptive technology.
“This is more than just funding, we’re bringing on advisors and partners who understand UX inside out,” said Borja Díaz-Roig, Uxia’s CEO, in the recent EU-Startups announcement.
The capital will primarily fuel product development, team expansion, and international growth. With a focus on engineering, sales, and AI talent, the company is paving the way to accelerate its product deployment in global markets, including the U.S., Korea, and Europe.
Lessons from Uxia: Challenges and Strategies for Startups
As a seasoned entrepreneur, Violetta Bonenkamp emphasizes the importance of addressing a key problem in innovation. She notes that, “Uxia’s laser-sharp focus on solving the inefficiencies of user testing sets them apart, but their emphasis on long-term growth through strategic partnerships and hiring will ensure a competitive edge.”
Bonenkamp shares her own insights for startups looking to follow Uxia’s lead:
- Focus on Feasibility: “It's easy to be captivated by fancy concepts, but solutions need market endurance. Uxia’s synthetic-user technology stands out as both feasible and scalable."
- Build a Resilient Team: Having worked with multidisciplinary teams around the globe, Violetta stresses hiring diverse talent who bring complementary skills to the table, as seen in Uxia’s leadership lineup.
- Leverage Mentorship: Collaboration with seasoned industry mentors like Javier Darriba is key. Bonenkamp often refers to this as “getting a sneak peek into potential pitfalls and emerging trends, saving startups years of costly mistakes.”
How Uxia Works: A Practical Guide for Product Teams
For those wondering how to integrate synthetic-user technology into their workflow, here’s a step-by-step guide on a typical process:
- Upload Your Prototype: Teams can simply upload their design mockups or UX prototypes to Uxia's platform.
- Define Personas: Choose from a set of pre-designed synthetic user profiles representing your target audience or create custom personas tailored to your product.
- Deploy Tests: Initiate automated usability tests to gather feedback and simulate user behavior on your product interface.
- Analyze Results: Receive a comprehensive report identifying usability bottlenecks, outstanding design elements, and improvement suggestions, all within minutes.
The platform’s ability to run endless iterations with minimal cost ensures that even the leanest product teams can deploy iterative improvements seamlessly.
Market Insights: Why Synthetic Users Are the Future
The global push towards democratizing AI technology has extended into UX testing, and rightly so. According to industry reports, user research is projected to represent a €13 billion market by 2030, growing at a 10% annual rate. Tools leveraging AI for this purpose, such as Uxia’s offering, aim to unlock unprecedented opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Competitive Landscape
While companies like UserTesting and UserZoom already dominate traditional user-testing platforms, synthetic users can disrupt this space by providing rapid, scalable, cost-efficient alternatives. Violetta explains:
“Industries operate in super volatile markets. Time is money and speed-to-insight matters more now than ever before. Synthetic testing is precisely what next-gen product teams need.”
For a closer look at emerging players in the AI-driven user testing space, explore platforms like .
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Scaling an AI startup like Uxia comes with its own set of challenges. Here are some of the most obvious pitfalls to avoid, according to Bonenkamp:
- Neglecting Real Users: "While synthetic users are a game-changer, they should complement, not completely replace, real user feedback. Startups must always maintain a balance."
- Over-focusing on Technology: “Companies need to balance tech-driven innovation with practical, applicable solutions that customers actually need. Sometimes, simplicity wins.”
- Ignoring Customer Education: User adoption of AI-tech can be slow if people don’t understand its capabilities. An onboarding process is just as crucial as the product itself."
Additionally, Violetta points out that fast-moving tech environments like this one can easily lead to copycat cultures, meaning startups must continuously innovate to stay ahead.
Closing Thoughts: What Can Entrepreneurs Learn from Uxia?
Uxia’s success exemplifies the importance of pursuing innovation with a clear and timely vision. By addressing a perennial pain point for product teams and embracing a blend of AI and simplicity, they have positioned themselves as a leader in the UX space.
Serial entrepreneur Violetta Bonenkamp highlights the bigger implications:
“Beyond the product itself, Uxia is an example of how Spanish and European ecosystems are maturing. With global problem-solving potential and affordable solutions, Europe’s startups are proving they can go toe-to-toe with Silicon Valley.”
As an entrepreneur or startup founder, explore how emerging AI tools can support your journey. Whether it's rapid prototyping, ideation, or gauging user sentiment, these tools unlock opportunities to innovate smarter and faster, just as Uxia is doing.
Want to witness Uxia’s solution firsthand? Visit Uxia’s official website and request a demo! For deeper analysis on UX innovation trends, head to the EU-Startups platform. Injecting synthetic efficiency into a creative industry like user design might just signal a new age for B2B SaaS innovation.
Inspired by Uxia’s journey? Start empowering your product today.
FAQ
1. What is Uxia’s core innovation?
Uxia has developed synthetic-user technology powered by AI, providing rapid, automated UX testing for product teams. The synthetic users simulate human behavior to generate actionable insights quickly. Discover Uxia's technology
2. How does synthetic-user testing differ from traditional methods?
Unlike traditional testing, Uxia’s solution uses AI-generated profiles to replicate user interactions, eliminating the need for real participants and reducing biases. This makes testing faster and more cost-efficient. Learn more about Synthetic Users
3. How was the €1 million pre-seed funding structured?
Uxia raised €750k through equity and expects additional financing through an ENISA loan to complete the €1 million funding round. Learn more about Uxia’s funding
4. Who are Uxia’s investors?
Uxia’s backers include Abac Nest Ventures, Encomenda VC, and notable angel investors like Javier Darriba, co-founder of UserZoom, and Marsal Gavaldà, CTO of Clarity AI. Explore Uxia’s investors
5. How can product teams integrate Uxia’s solution?
Teams can upload prototypes, create or select synthetic personas, deploy usability tests, and receive quick feedback reports. This workflow simplifies iterative product development. Check out Uxia's platform
6. What is the broader market context for synthetic-user technology?
User research is projected to grow into a €13 billion market by 2030, with increasing adoption of AI-driven tools like Uxia’s solution disrupting traditional methods. Explore market insights
7. What challenges might arise with synthetic-user technology?
Although synthetic users provide rapid insights, they should complement real user feedback, not replace it, to maintain balanced validation strategies. Learn more about synthetic-user challenges
8. What industries can benefit from Uxia’s technology?
Uxia’s solution is designed for digital product teams across industries, including SaaS, e-commerce, and fintech, enabling better UX design at reduced costs. Discover the impact of synthetic users
9. What role does mentorship play in Uxia’s success?
Guidance from experienced mentors like Javier Darriba has helped Uxia navigate potential pitfalls and shape its growth trajectory effectively. Learn about investor guidance
10. What’s next on Uxia’s roadmap?
Uxia plans to expand internationally, enhance product features, and grow its team with skilled professionals in AI, engineering, and sales. Explore Uxia’s roadmap
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.