Overview
Niels Bessemans is co-founder and CEO of Optiflux, a company he co-founded in February 2021. He is based in Holsbeek.
Before that, he worked at KU Leuven, where he was a postdoctoral researcher from January 2018 to July 2021 and, from March 2018 to July 2021, held a VLAIO innovation mandate as innovation manager. From August 2013 to February 2018 he held a PhD fellowship from IWT, and in July 2013 he had a student job at the Flanders Centre of Postharvest Technology.
He studied at KU Leuven, completing a bachelor's degree in bioscience engineering with a focus on biosystems engineering in 2011 and a Master of Science in Bioscience Engineering in 2013, followed by a PhD in bioscience engineering in 2018. He took the MBA Bootcamp at Flanders Business School in 2017 and 2018 and a postgraduate programme in corporate finance at KU Leuven in 2018 and 2019.
Career history
In the news
- 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 Optiflux! 🍏 We're growing internationally 🌍 and need someone to build a strong financial foundation with us. 💼 Report directly to the CEO 📊 Own budgets, forecasts, reporting & board figures 💶 Manage cash flow, profitability & banking relationships 🛠️ Build the finance processes and systems for our next phase ✅ 3+ years in finance (controlling or audit is a plus) ✅ Excel, ERP & financial modelling skills ✅ Fluent in Dutch & English 🇧🇪🇬🇧 📩 Interested, or know the
- 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 & 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐱 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫? Ready to lead a talented team, drive innovation, and turn ideas into impact? 👥🎯 🍎 At Optiflux, we're on a mission to reduce food loss and maximize the value of every harvest by enabling better quality decisions throughout the fresh produce supply chain. 🔍 We're looking for a Product & Development Manager who combines technical expertise with strong leadership to take that mission to the next level: 🗺️ Own
- Quality discussions with your suppliers? A tip that Optiflux CEO Niels Bessemans PhD often gives fruit companies: strengthen your position with objective quality data. When you know exactly what happened to a batch, you enter supplier and buyer conversations with facts instead of assumptions. That makes it easier to negotiate, give clear feedback, and support your decisions with evidence. In the end, better data gives fruit companies a stronger position throughout the chain. Are these discussions common in your business?
- 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 🤝🚀 We are thrilled to share that Optiflux and ILERFRED have signed an exclusive partnership to bring Optiroom to the Spanish market. 🇪🇸 When we started building Optiroom, we always knew it had to reach beyond our home market. Spain was high on our list, but only with the right partner at our side. Someone who knows the local market, understands the customer and shares our ambition. Ilerfred is that partner. From today,
- 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐭 Fruit Attraction 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲! 🍎🌍 The Optiflux team is in Madrid to connect with growers, packers and partners about how fruit data can help drive better decisions. Come meet us and discover Quality Insights, OptiPallet and OptiRoom. We are ready! Hall 5 | Stand 5E20 #FruitAttraction #Optiflux #FruitQuality #Qualitymanagement
- Optiflux 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫! 🚀 We help the fresh produce industry reduce food loss and maximize value through AI-driven quality management. We are looking for a senior profile with strong commercial expertise and a large network in fresh fruit and vegetables, plus experience in international scaling. You will provide strategic guidance, independent oversight and constructive challenge to the management team, helping shape our commercial strategy and
- 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸, Optiflux 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 Fruit Attraction 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗱! 🍎🍐🫐 I’m looking forward to meeting growers, cooperatives, packers and traders from across the international fresh produce industry, and showing how we help them make better decisions throughout the entire journey from 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸. At our stand, we will highlight three of our key solutions: 🔍 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 Objective and consistent quality assessment using computer vision and AI, through a smartphone or a fixed
- 𝗔 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗹𝘂𝘅! 🍎🌍 We're proud to announce that Optiflux has raised €2.5 million to accelerate our mission: to become the global leader in fruit quality management. This new investment from Agri Investment Fund LAVA, LRM, and GEMMA FRISIUS - FONDS K.U.LEUVEN will help us accelerate our international expansion, strengthen our platform, and continue building the future of fruit quality management. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 Every day, millions
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