I have made the decision to step down as CEO of Vandebron by the end of this year. This decision was a tough one to make, yet it feels like the right choice for me. After six years, of which three as CCO and three as CEO, it feels like a natural point in time for me to hand over the leadership of the company and spend some more time with my family, reflect on my next steps and explore new endeavors.
I leave knowing that the company is in the capable hands of my fellow board members Kim Verdouw-Essebaggers and Arno van den Berg, who together with our Leadership Team (Ammarai van der Linde, Mart Vonk, Robin Coers, Niels Haverkort, Rick Bitter, Rowald Oosterkamp) will lead Vandebron through this transition. As for my succession: we are looking at potential candidates both internally and externally.
Looking back at those six years fills me with pride and puts a big smile on my face. Vandebron has transitioned from a start-up to a scale-up. We have doubled our customer base, launched and scaled our E-mobility business now serving over 30.000 customers and built a state-of-art Energy Services platform capable of effortlessly handling the extreme volatility in the market. When I took over the helm as CEO in summer 2020, my personal mission was to facilitate a smooth transition from Vandebron as a rebellious stand-alone energy company to the daughter of the largest energy company of the country, Essent. Since then we have proven that it is possible to successfully combine purpose and profit, becoming a profitable green energy company continuing to push its mission to reach 100% sustainable energy as soon as possible. Simultaneously, the energy crisis caused turbulent years which we cautiously navigated, managing the impact of ever rising energy prices.
Reaching all of these milestones with the small team that we were and still are, is a big testament to everyone involved. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it for the world, from the chaotic, but beautiful, cash-strapped early days as a startup, via the acquisition by Essent to the company we are today, moving into our new fully sustainable office this week. The team’s passion to make the world a better place, our sharp but fruitful discussions on how to stay true to our mission, and at the same time reach financial sustainability: it was an honor to work with everyone and an amazing ride both on a professional as a personal level.
I would like to close off by thanking Vandebron’s founders Remco Wilcke, Aart van Veller and Matthijs Guichelaar - without whom Vandebron would not have been there in the first place. Resi Becker, Boudewijn den Herder, Maarten Kuikman and Thijs van Rossum, for the warm welcome in the Essent group and our successful cooperation over the last three years
Goodbyes are hard, but they also provide new beginnings. I am happy that I was part of this great adventure and will keep supporting Vandebron’s mission to reach 100% green energy as soon as possible.
Application Development Team Lead at Accenture in India l CSV Expert | System Qualification Expert I GxP Application Management I Change Manager l ITIL
2wA nice dinner with great people around. 😁