Toon is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience at the intersection of data, analytics, AI and business strategy. As co-founder of element61, he helped grow the company from a two-person start-up into Belgium’s leading Analytics & AI advisory firm, expanding to more than 100 consultants and establishing a strong reputation for expertise and delivery excellence.

Throughout this journey, he has leveraged a unique blend of technical understanding, economic education and business acumen, allowing him to bridge strategy, technology and execution in early-stage and growth environments.

In 2024-25 he organised Nomad on Tour, a one-off transatlantic sailing experience, guiding a group of friends through a demanding offshore journey that strengthened his pragmatic leadership style: hardworking yet playful, reliable and focused on group cohesion.

In 2025, Toon launched a new chapter witha strong focus on AI-powered innovation. He is actively building an AI–driven software company in the residential housing market.

Within Anament.io, Toon contributes his expertise across several focus areas:

·        Data, analytics & AI: guiding start-ups with a data-driven product strategy and lookingfor early-stage AI integration.

·        Early-stage sales execution:Toon will add a pragmatic though proven vision and execution on project and software sales during the initial start-up phase.

·        Supporting founders in early execution: from a strong background in project delivery, he will contribute to start-ups from their first customer projects to scalable processes.

·         Antwerp startup ecosystem: maintaining and further expanding his strong local network in technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

·        Organisation building &scaling: “been there, done that”, through hands-on experience in growing his own company from 2 to 100+ people.

·        A leadership mindset anchored in curiosity, continuous learning and hands-on problem solving.

Toon brings strategic insight, operational experience and a strong appetite for innovation, making him a complementary partner within the Anament.io venture studio.

Areas of Expertise

Startup& Scale-up Execution
• Support founders in defining early delivery models and customer-facing processes
• Translate strategic priorities into operational execution

‍Data, Analytics & AI Enablement
• Advise on data foundations and analytics strategy
• Guide early AI integration, including generative AI, automation and AI agents
• Support technical decision-making for MVPs involving data or AI components‍

Go-to-Market& Customer Development
• Help validate customer needs and early product–market fit
• Assist in setting up initial sales motions, demo flows and value communication
• Provide hands-on support in the first commercial conversations with enterprise or SME customers

OrganisationBuilding
• Apply experience from scaling element61 from 2 to 100+ people
• Structure hiring plans, team roles and early leadership practices
• Introduce scalable knowledge-sharing and competency-building frameworks

Ecosystem& Network Development
• Strong understanding of the Antwerp and Belgian tech/startup landscape
• Access to a broad network of talent, partners and early customers
• Ability to connect founders with relevant industry stakeholders quickly

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