MEET THE TEAM
We would like to introduce you to the people behind Yookr; the team that would like to innovate with you.
Meet co-founder John van Helden
Entrepreneur with heart and soul
John van Helden has been an independent entrepreneur for 25 years. John was raised with a passion for horticulture. The roots are at home with his parents who had a horticultural business. After his studies, he worked at Deloitte for five years, then as an entrepreneur with the company Dutch Pet Products. Since 2016, John has returned to horticulture as co-founder of Yookr.
Enable growers in the primary sector to enjoy their business
This is an important driver for John. Linking data from different processes in order to generate insights from one dashboard and thus be able to make decisions. An aid in the daily hustle and bustle, giving the grower a piece of rest.
Collaborate for a fair price
The second motive is a fair price for the products. Extensive cooperation with partners and stakeholders makes it possible to build a new form of cooperation from the current chain based on trust and respect. The world is on the eve of major social, economic and climatic changes.
John is happy to help shape these changes. Big Data and a healthy dose of cross-thinking will help! The future is going to be bright.
Meet co-founder Marcel Steegh
Thinking from the plant
Marcel was born in a horticultural family and his cradle was literally in the tomato greenhouse. There he learned to always think from the plant. How do we create conditions that allow the plant to grow optimally?
Smarter, more innovative and more sustainable
At Yookr, Marcel went in search of possibilities to monitor and improve plant growth from his technical background. Measuring with the help of sensors and the information that comes from that help enormously. By working together and sharing knowledge, we get a better grip on cultivation. This makes cultivation smarter, more innovative and more sustainable.
Meet project administration & support purchasing and sales Helga Leenstra
PuraVida: I wish you a pure life.
This is how residents of Costa Rica greet each other. What could be better than wishing each other a pure life? A life without worries, an honest life, a life full of purity.
However, the question is how pure life still is here on earth. Helga greatly values our planet, its biodiversity, flora and fauna and humanity. Instead of plucking and exploiting our earth, she believes that we should work together on recovery. By listening and looking at the soil, the animals, the plants, the air and the water. Only in this way can we pass on a (more) healthy earth to the next generation.
Listening to what nature has to tell us.
She is happy to be able to do her bit at Yookr to listen to what nature has to tell us. Yookr listens to and uses sensors to register the environment of our food. With the help of data, we can ensure that the earth becomes greener again, has time to recover and can flourish again. Back to a healthy living environment for humans and animals: PuraVida!
Meet data analyst Robin van Albada
Time cannot be turned back. That is why you better spend it useful.
Look, that’s another statement by Robin van Albada! You know immediately that he wants to move forward. This data analyst prefers to analyze, optimize and automate business processes. Robin is also working on the technology of our sensors, ensures internal structure and continuous quality improvements.
Entrepreneurship and the interest in startups are in his blood. With his experience gained at TU Delft and accountancy firm EY, Robin has a solid foundation with which he now wants to make a difference with Yookr.
Meet Engineer Bernard Jenisskens
Raised in the countryside and educated at the Fontys in Venlo and the TU in Eindhoven. Bernard feels at home among farmers, growers and technology. He is the fifth employee to work at Yookr. With his background in Mechatronics, Bernard will focus on the hardware that Yookr supplies and will deliver in the future. His field within Yookr ranges from mechanics to electronics to software. Outside of Yookr, Bernard loves to be surrounded by people. He is very involved in the associations life in Meterik.
What Bernard considers important is that customers can work with Yookr products as efficiently as possible. Anything that takes too many actions or that takes the customer too long is wasted precious time. Also, a problem does not always require a complicated solution. But with Bernard’s down-to-earth common sense this will certainly work out.
Meet mechatronic engineer student Joep Derix
Joep Derix is our new graduate at Yookr.
Graduating from the Mechatronics education at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences Venlo, that is what he has now started. Over the next 5 months, he will be fully committed to designing a digital environment for horticulturists who can use it to view the status of their production environment at a glance.
Besides being a mechatronic(us), Joep is a purebred Horstenaar who in his spare time is mainly active in the club life of RKsv Wittenhorst. He is trainer and leader of Boys under 15-3 and Boys under 19-2. On Sunday he is a striking appearance at Wittenhorst6.
The internship experiences that Joep gained during the Mechatronics education are at the larger companies Inalfa and Actemium. Now Joep has his eyes set on a smaller company with a relaxed atmosphere and a challenging assignment.
The assignment at Yookr originated from research among growers, which showed that the current systems offer too little guidance for optimal insight into the greenhouse and the development of the harvest. The ultimate goal of the digital cultivation environment is to provide the grower with much more detailed insight into his entire greenhouse. In addition to this digital environment to provide better insight, additional features will also be created to directly view data from the past and to include weather forecasts in optimizing crop growth.
Meet international business student Jeanette Maas
Hello, I’m Jeanette and I’m a new graduate at Yookr.
I am an international business student and I am happy about the exciting journey with Yookr.
Why did I choose Yookr? Because I like to be where innovation is translated into practice and I love Business Intelligence. I feel Yookr’s business model is a great addition to increase yields, reduce the need for resources like water, and address global climate challenges. And what could be better than working with a purpose?!
I was born in Berlin, but lived in different cities in Germany, Switzerland and France. I like all kinds of art, good food, wine and a good company. And last but not least, I am a former French cake designer, classical singer, cross fit and happy to become a Data Analyst someday.
I hope to see you soon at Yookr for a cup of coffee! 😉