diff --git a/src/main/java/iudx/catalogue/server/mlayer/vocabulary/DataModel.java b/src/main/java/iudx/catalogue/server/mlayer/vocabulary/DataModel.java
index 0b737158..6f217b2f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/iudx/catalogue/server/mlayer/vocabulary/DataModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/iudx/catalogue/server/mlayer/vocabulary/DataModel.java
@@ -11,16 +11,20 @@
 import io.vertx.core.json.JsonObject;
 import io.vertx.ext.web.client.HttpResponse;
 import io.vertx.ext.web.client.WebClient;
+import io.vertx.ext.web.client.WebClientOptions;
 import iudx.catalogue.server.database.ElasticClient;
+import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 
 public class DataModel {
   private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(DataModel.class);
+  private static final int MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS = 10; // limit to 10 concurrent requests
   private final ElasticClient client;
   private final WebClient webClient;
   private final String docIndex;
+  private final Semaphore semaphore = new Semaphore(MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS);
 
   /**
    * Constructor for DataModel.
@@ -29,7 +33,11 @@ public class DataModel {
    * @param docIndex The index name where data are stored/retrieved in elastic.
    */
   public DataModel(ElasticClient client, String docIndex) {
-    this.webClient = WebClient.create(Vertx.vertx());
+    WebClientOptions options = new WebClientOptions()
+            .setMaxPoolSize(10)
+            .setKeepAlive(true)
+            .setConnectTimeout(5000);
+    this.webClient = WebClient.create(Vertx.vertx(), options);
     this.client = client;
     this.docIndex = docIndex;
   }
@@ -121,16 +129,36 @@ private Future<JsonObject> fetchDataModels(JsonArray results) {
       String classId = type.split(":")[1];
       String dmUrl = contextUrl + classId + ".jsonld";
 
+      acquireSemaphoreAndFetchDataModel(
+          id, classId, dmUrl, classIdToSubClassMap, pendingRequests, promise);
+    }
+    return promise.future();
+  }
+
+  private void acquireSemaphoreAndFetchDataModel(
+      String id,
+      String classId,
+      String dmUrl,
+      JsonObject classIdToSubClassMap,
+      AtomicInteger pendingRequests,
+      Promise<JsonObject> promise) {
+    try {
+      semaphore.acquire();
       webClient
           .getAbs(dmUrl)
           .send(
               dmAr -> {
                 handleDataModelResponse(
                     dmAr, id, classId, classIdToSubClassMap, pendingRequests, promise, dmUrl);
+                semaphore.release();
               });
+    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+      LOGGER.error("Semaphore acquisition interrupted for URL: {}", dmUrl, e);
+      semaphore.release();
+      if (pendingRequests.decrementAndGet() == 0) {
+        promise.complete(classIdToSubClassMap);
+      }
     }
-    this.webClient.close();
-    return promise.future();
   }
 
   /**