Joris Van Der Gucht, the entrepreneur who sold his accounting software company Silverfin for 320 million euros, is returning to the tech sphere with a new start-up named Ravical. Focusing on the digital transformation of expert service firms such as accountants, HR providers, legal advisors, and insurers, Ravical addresses a segment often overlooked in the rapid evolution of professional services. The platform is specifically designed for firms serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering a solution to enhance and scale client communications without sacrificing quality or speed.
At the core of Ravical´s platform is agentic artificial intelligence — autonomous software agents powered by large language models. These agents are capable of setting goals, executing tasks, and learning from user feedback, with the ambitious aim of automating up to 80 percent of routine advisory work. According to Van Der Gucht, this allows professionals to focus on high-value activities, a necessity in a marketplace where expertise alone is no longer enough to ensure competitiveness. He was quoted as saying that firms must ´fundamentally rethink their operations´ in the face of technological disruption.
The founding team includes former Silverfin colleagues and artificial intelligence specialists Ken Bastiaensen and Benjamin Vandermarliere. Their efforts have resulted in a record-setting pre-seed funding round of 7.3 million euros, one of the largest of its kind in Belgium and Europe. German venture capital firm Lakestar, known for early investments in Spotify and Alan, led the round, joined by Belgian firms Pitchdrive, Syndicate One, and notable entrepreneurs from Ghent. Despite keeping a low profile so far, Ravical´s product is already in pilot use at several major European firms, with a team of 15 and expansion underway. The founders bring proven expertise from their previous venture, Silverfin, which streamlined repetitive tasks for accountants before its acquisition by Visma in 2023. With Ravical, they hope to once again accelerate innovation in professional advisory services and transform operational models across Europe.
