In the Dutch city of Roermond, the cobblestone-laden streets echo with history while the Meuse River bends with quiet persistence. Amidst this city’s perfect mix of history and culture with modernity is Violetta Bonenkamp, Founder and CEO of Fe/male Switch. Her entrepreneurial journey began with a career-defining question: “What if learning to build a business could feel as thrilling as playing a game?”
Violetta had already navigated a path as complex as any startup journey. She studied in Russia and across Europe, earning multiple university degrees in linguistics, child studies, an MBA, and a European Master’s in higher education. And through this path, she built a rich tapestry of knowledge in game theory, cognitive science, business management, and cutting-edge technologies.
Yet, despite all this knowledge, Violetta kept returning to the same thought: “How can startup education break free from static templates and instead become more interactive, immersive, and deeply human?” Little did anyone know that this question would give rise to Fe/male Switch, a startup game empowering new founders, especially women, to master entrepreneurship through play. A whole new experience!
Empowering Founders Through Gamified Education
In 2021, Violetta founded Fe/male Switch as a data-informed educational role-playing game (RPG) rooted in her patented “gamepreneurship” approach. She designed the platform so that new business founders don’t just read about entrepreneurship; they live it. Fe/male Switch allows players to embark on intellectual quests, collect rewards, engage with mentors, and upskill both online and offline.
To bring this platform to life, Violetta blended both digital and unplugged activities into a comprehensive learning environment. The game features a progress-tracking AI buddy, peer and mentor feedback loops led by a “Game Master,” tailored challenges simulating real startup scenarios, and an internal economy powered by tokenized rewards.
Rather than adding superficial “points and badges,” Violetta built a real-world skills engine. Participants complete the program with useful templates, essential tools, and recognizable certifications. Most importantly, they leave with the knowledge and confidence to navigate uncertainty in the real world, truly an undeniable win. To prove the concept’s accessibility, Violetta built the entire platform with zero code, showing that innovation doesn’t always require a team of game developers.
At the Intersection of Deep Tech and Human Potential
Long before Fe/male Switch, Violetta reshaped the deep tech landscape as CEO of CADChain in 2019. CADChain secures intellectual property for computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D models using blockchain technology. She leads research and development, drives business growth, and manages public relations.
Building on this foundation, her roles at both CADChain and later Fe/male Switch share a unified purpose: making complex systems accessible and empowering people to use them creatively. Whether she protects engineering designs or guides first-time founders through market research, Violetta acts as both an architect and strategist.
A New Way to Learn Business with “Gamepreneurship”
Violetta decided on the term “gamepreneurship” not as a catchphrase, but as the condensation of her behavioural insight, academic research, and entrepreneurial work. She drew on developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive linguistics, and crafted a learning model that turns entrepreneurship into a hands-on, meaningful experience for everyone.
Building on these insights, she views startup education like a real-world simulation. Rather than handing learners a manual, she drops them into the cockpit mid-flight and provides responsive systems that adapt to their choices. This immersive approach not only drew widespread public interest but also positioned Fe/male Switch as a transformative force in global startup education.
Recognition Across Europe and Beyond
Entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and business founders across Europe and beyond recognize Violetta’s work at CADChain and Fe/male Switch. In 2022, EU Startups named her among the Top 100 Women in Europe and Dutch Blockchain Week nominated her for Impact Person of the Year. She also shares her insights as an author for Sifted and as a guest speaker at universities and technology-related events.
Her recognition mirrors an ongoing commitment to learning and expanding her skillset. Beyond running her two businesses, Violetta keeps herself busy by constantly learning and exploring. She has a firm grasp across a wide spectrum in AI, game design, blockchain, intellectual property, cybersecurity, digital marketing, UX research, industrial design, VR/AR, and no-code game development. She pairs these technical strengths with collaborative leadership, negotiation, creativity, and an exceptional ability to build important relationships.
Reshaping Startup Ecosystems for Everyone
With Fe/male Switch, Violetta pursues a philanthropic aim alongside her business ventures. By emphasizing women in entrepreneurship and designing a learning framework that engages like a game, she breaks the barriers that often make startup ecosystems narrow and inaccessible.
With this goal in mind, Violetta continues to explore transnational collaborations to make “gamepreneurship” a global standard, develop AI-powered startup tools, and create metaverse-compatible learning environments. At her core, she designs worlds where more and more people can build the skills, networks, and confidence to shape their own futures.
For Violetta, entrepreneurship works like the games she loves to design: full of risk, unexpected wins, and strategy. She plays the game as a founder but also takes on the role of Game Master, guiding others through the adventure. In her world, success isn’t just about winning; it’s about playing to learn and earn, mastering the rules to rewrite them, and rewriting them to win on your own terms. And that’s exactly what Violetta Bonenkamp is doing today: redefining the rules of the game altogether.