Rik Van Kerckhoven
Rik Van Kerckhoven is the chief executive of Purple Panda and is based in Madrid. He founded the company in November 2017 and held that role until March 2026.
Since December 2022 he has been a co-founder of BlackBear AI Labs, where he serves as Chief Hacker, and in January 2026 he co-founded Finn HR, taking up the position of chief technology officer there. Earlier, between January 2016 and January 2017, he founded PartyWatch.
He studied software engineering at the Mater Salvatoris Instituut Kapellen from 2012 to 2014 and continued in the same field at the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool from 2014 to 2015.
Career
Roles
- Finn HRMede-oprichter & CTOJan 2026 – Present
BlackBear AI LabsMede-oprichter & Chief HackerDec 2022 – Present
- Purple PandaFounder bij Purple Panda - Webdevelopment / Online MarketingNov 2017 – Mar 2026
- PartyWatchFounderJan 2016 – Jan 2017
Education
Karel de Grote-Hogeschool#9schoolInformatica (Software engineering) / Hogere opleiding Software engineer2014 - 2015
- Mater Salvatoris Instituut KapellenInformatica (Software engineering) / Hogere opleiding Software engineer2012 - 2014
From public career histories · 6 entries