Filip Coenen is the new business developer in the Co-location Centre of EIT ICT Labs Eindhoven. He is the successor of Koen Vriesacker who is joining the PPP Future Internet project. The team in Eindhoven wishes Koen all the best and success in his new challenge!
Filip Coenen studied Economic Engineering in Belgium. After his study he was selected to join the Research Group of Data Anaysis and Modeling and had the opportunity to present his papers and research results all over the world, from San Francisco to Kyoto. From out of this research group, they joined forces to create the first ever spinoff company of the Economic Faculty of the University of Hasselt (MINEvision).
During the 2001 crisis, Filip had to take over the lead of MINEvision and restructured the company to a profitable entity, sold it and integrated it as a business unit within HostIT. HostiIT being sold to an even bigger company, Filip took the entrepreneurship challenge again and created the startup Youston as a daughter company of Nascom. Grew it and sold it before taking over the lead of Nascom itself.
Again, he took the challenge of restructuring this SME to a profitable entity and managed to build a new story and an international customer portfolio with e.g. Sony on European level. This last step he took together with the Belgian Limburg VC "LRM" on board as a shareholder. Them being pleased with the result, he started working directly for LRM as an investment manager and a hands-on coach of their 19 ICT portfolio companies. From out of the investment team, Filip also had the chance to set up the incubation activities for ICT startups in Limburg together with iMinds, before taking the opportunity to continue this effort on a European level with EIT ICT Labs.
Filip says: "I sincerely hope that my combined experience with research, entrepreneurship, startups in good and bad days, investment management and incubation can be of added value to our team, and look forward to meet all of you in person!"
Nevertheless his splendid career moves, Filip argues that he is in the first place a husband and a father of 3 kids, daughter Sam (8), and 2 sons Jef (6) and Fons (3).
We wish Filip a warm welcome in the EIT ICT Labs Community: filip.coenen@eitictlabs.eu
