The End-to-End Platform to Deliver LLM Apps at scale:

The adoption of generative AI is increasing globally, but integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into existing IT systems presents several challenges. Businesses often struggle with deployment, scalability, compliance and performance monitoring as well as the barrier between technical and non-technical teams in deploying artificial intelligence (AI).

Our investment, Orq.ai, from Amsterdam provides a platform that helps businesses integrate, manage, and monitor LLM applications. By offering tools to simplify experimentation, deployment, and performance tracking, Orq.ai enables companies to adopt AI solutions in a structured and scalable and cost-efficient way.

Bridging AI Complexity with Business Simplicity

At its core, Orq.ai provides teams with an end-to-end platform to deliver reliable GenAI solutions at scale. By providing tooling needed to operate large language models (LLMs) out of the box in a user-friendly interface, Orq.ai enables software teams to build reliable LLM apps from the ground up, run them at scale, control output in real-time, and optimize performance.

Key features that set Orq.ai apart:

• AI Gateway: A centralized access point for multiple LLM providers, allowing enterprises to experiment with different models, compare performance, and establish fallback mechanisms in case of service disruptions.
• Experimentation Playground: Businesses can rapidly test different LLM models and prompt configurations at scale to optimize performance and cost-effectiveness for specific use cases.

• Prompt Engineering Workflows: The platform allows enterprise teams to store, manage and iterate on prompts, ensuring consistency across teams and improving response accuracy.

• Deployments: Orq.ai allows teams to route AI models and prompt configs from staging to production environments against built-in guardrails and fallback models.

• Observability & Insights: Real-time dashboards provide visibility into key performance metrics such as latency, cost per request, and model accuracy, helping businesses make informed decisions.

These features not only position Orq.ai as a versatile solution for LLM operations but also highlight its scalability for organizations at different stages of AI adoption.

Orq.ai’s Strategic Advantage in the Expanding European AI Market

In 2024, companies worldwide significantly increased their investments in generative AI. According to the Capgemini Research Institute, 80 percent of companies have raised their spending on generative AI compared to the previous year (capgemini.com). In Europe, projected investments of $2.8 billion were far exceeded, reaching $6.4 billion (it-daily.net ,reuters.com). Yet, many companies still struggle to integrate AI into their operations, creating a gap between investment and value realization - an opportunity for Orq.ai.

Unlike the U.S., where AI funding is concentrated (de.statista.com), Europe remains underserved, with rising demand but limited tailored solutions. Orq.ai fills this gap by offering GDPR-compliant AI designed for European enterprises, addressing both regulatory challenges and the need for effective AI adoption. This strategic positioning not only differentiates Orq.ai from U.S.-focused competitors but also builds trust with privacy-conscious clients, driving scalable growth in a rapidly expanding market.

The Founders behind Orq.ai

One of the strongest elements of our investment thesis is the founding team consisting of Sohrab Hosseini (CEO) and Anthony Diaz (CTO). Their combined experience in product development and enterprise SaaS equips them to scale Orq.ai effectively. Notably, Sohrab and Anthony worked together at Neocles, a SaaS company specializing in digital product lifecycle management. Their collaboration not only strengthened their professional synergy but also reduced the typical co-founder risk that challenges many startups.

Sohrab’s background in strategic consulting at McKinsey, along with leadership roles at Transdev and Platform 161, enables him to align technology with business goals. Anthony, an experienced full-stack developer and R&D leader from Plug and Play Tech Center and Semmie, brings expertise in agile product development and technical execution.

With Sohrab’s strategic vision and Anthony’s technical expertise, we believe Orq.ai is well positioned for success in the AI market.

Why we invested in Orq.ai

Our investment in Orq.ai is based on a combination of an innovative and market-relevant product, an experienced founding team, and a growing market opportunity. The company's focus on solving enterprise challenges in LLM integration and operations with a no-code solution provides a clear value proposition.

Orq.ai’s emphasis on the European market, where regulatory compliance and data privacy are critical, further strengthens its growth potential. Early traction with corporate clients supports the product's market fit and the team’s execution capabilities.

With the right resources and continued execution, Orq.ai has the potential to become a key player in the Generative AI ecosystem. The strength of the founding team, their strategic focus, and the scalability of their solution show that it is the right fit.

Orq.ai and xdeck

At xdeck, we are fond of market opportunities and metrics, but we invest in people. From our very first conversation with Sohrab and Anthony, it was clear that they possess the strategic vision and technical expertise to drive Orq.ai's growth. Their practical approach, deep domain knowledge, and dedication to creating value for customers align well with our investment criteria.

But let’s see what the founders have to say: “The support we’ve received from xdeck has been instrumental in helping us scale our team and bring our product to market. We look forward to adding more capabilities to our platform in 2025 to help our users with their GenAI app development workflows”.

We believe that our experience in scaling B2B SaaS startups and our network within the German startup realm will help Orq.ai scale. Additionally, we support the team with best practice examples on B2B sales, fundraising and operations. We are excited to be part of the Orq.ai journey - our first investment outside of Germany.