desondanks means “nevertheless”. When it opens the clause, the verb comes before the subject (inversion).
Connective adverbs · Bijwoorden
Hij was moe. Desondanks bleef hij werken.
He was tired. Nevertheless he kept working.
Het was moeilijk. Desondanks slaagde ze.
It was hard. Nevertheless she passed.
Drag scrambled words into the right Dutch order and master inversion and the verb-final rule.