We are seasoned investment professionals specialized in growth and operational improvement. We flourish when we can support your team beyond the financials. For us, it starts with the need to truly understand the people and uniqueness of your organization. Knowing what drives you and your business is knowing how to invest in accelerating your success.
With our distinctive backgrounds, which combine operational experience with years of private equity, we bring operational knowledge and skills from a multitude of sectors and strategies. We have helped many entrepreneurs and management teams over the years become even more successful.
We are eager to discuss and deepen our understanding of your business, so we can help you grow your business sustainably.
Jelle prins
Analyst
Jelle gained private equity experience as an intern at SDG Capital, where he was largely involved in SDG’s first investment in a net positive company. Prior to that Jelle worked as a strategy consultant and a project manager for the student-run advisory organization - De Kleine Consultant.
He believes that sustainability challenges and ESG integration have the ability to build more resilient businesses that will thrive in a net positive economy. He developed analytical skills in order to assess business risks and opportunities by working on sustainable growth strategies.
Jelle holds a postgraduate certificate from Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership, and is currently in the final stage of his Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Technology from Delft University of Technology.
He loves to go on (race-)bike rides with one of his three brothers, or hang out with friends and family.
Arjan Snijders
Founder & Partner
Arjan founded SDG Capital in 2020, after gaining broad investment experience at H2 Equity Partners (turnaround capital) and EQT Partners (growth capital). At the latter, he was responsible for launching and managing the Benelux Mid-Market team. Prior to that, Arjan started his career at Kearney.
To significantly grow a company, you need to combine a good sense for business opportunities and industry insights with fact-based analysis. Arjan dives deep into a business to truly familiarize himself with its operations, and he is a strong advocate for involving industry experts to identify new opportunities for success. He is at his best when he can use his operational improvement experience to add value far beyond traditional improvements, like cost cutting, and instead focus on growth. Pricing and digitization are two of his favorite improvement areas. He inspires management teams to think big and is not afraid to invest quickly and substantially in the company. He understands that growing a business is a balancing act between having the patience to see things through and taking swift action if needed.
Arjan holds a Master of Science from Delft University of Technology and an MBA from INSEAD.
He loves to play squash with friends, program games with his oldest son, play tennis with his youngest, travel by train to the Alps, hike with his Red Fox Labrador and enjoy his wife’s culinary talents.
Niels Kreuk
Investment Director
Niels joined SDG Capital as Investment Director in 2023, bringing with him broad investment experience in buy & build strategies. Niels gained his experience at Waterland Private Equity where he supported management teams of portfolio companies on corporate strategy and add-on acquisitions. He was involved in over 50 M&A transactions across 7 European countries. Before joining SDG Capital, Niels traveled the world on a sabbatical trip and executed various freelance projects in strategy and finance.
When traveling, Niels is always inspired by nature and the cause to limit the effects of human impact. Niels believes we should seek to invest where impact and financial return are aligned. He is at his best when challenges require creative and multidisciplinary solutions.
Niels holds a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics and a Master of Science in Organisational Psychology from Universiteit Twente and gained his first experience as a student entrepreneur.
Outside of work, Niels much enjoys cooking, jazz music, classic novels and scuba diving.
— Our experts can give your team wings —
We are committed to being your most valuable partner. That is why our team is larger than just investment professionals. We have five Associate Partners – all entrepreneurs who successfully built and sold their companies – who work and invest closely with us on deals and portfolio companies. They can be great sparring partners on how to grow your business and can be the trusted advisors you may not have inside your team.
In addition, we have a group of proven industry and functional experts who can help you analyze and act on the industry dynamics your business operates in, and improve your business functions, such as your digital competence, which are put under pressure by growth, such as your digital competence.
We can help your team benefit from the relevant and high-quality expertise of these down-to-earth and highly committed individuals.
Our Associate Partners
Lara timmerman
Entrepreneur & Agri(tech) expert / Associate Partner
Twenty years ago Lara embarked on an adventure when she took over her family’s business Pop Vriend Seeds. Her grandfather Pop Vriend had started breeding bean seeds, and the next generation of the family significantly extended the company’s range of tasty vegetables. Under Lara’s leadership, Pop Vriend Seeds grew into an internationally renowned seed breeding company, its growth driven largely by the American discovery of high-quality West Frisian spinach. In 2019 she decided to sell her company to German family business KWS, a global top-five player in the industry.
As a true vegetable enthusiast, Lara is our expert in everything related to food and agriculture.
André haardt
Entrepreneur & Edu(tech) expert / Associate Partner
When his children started school in 2009, André realized a tremendous gap had grown between modern society and the classroom, where computer technology was still almost non-existent. He started Squla from his attic (really!), and within a few years, the company offered the full elementary school curriculum, packaged in ‘serious games’. Caught by the ‘power of play’, children now actually practice on their own initiative after school. André grew Squla all the way from start-up to a sizable business – the market leader in the Netherlands and Poland. In 2018, André made a successful (partial) exit to Levine Leichtmann, and in 2020 he sold his last stake to NPM Capital, which will support Squla in further realizing its international ambitions.
As a truly purpose-driven entrepreneur, André is our expert on anything related to education and (serious) gaming.
jolanda degen
Entrepreneur & Online (Travel) expert / Associate Partner
Jolanda has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years; it is incredible to imagine that when she took over World Ticket Center, you had to physically go to the store to book a flight. When the internet subsequently took off, she was early to identify its opportunities. Even before customers were searching with Google and paying with iDeal, Jolanda was able to transform WTC into an internet company. Years of impressive organic growth followed, and after a merger with competitor Vliegtickets.nl, the company became the largest online travel agency in the Netherlands and Belgium. In 2016 Jolanda sold the company to Waterland to support further growth in Europe.
Naturally, Jolanda is our Online Travel and B2C expert.
Maurik griep
Entrepreneur & Business Services expert / Associate Partner
When the financial crisis hit the construction industry, Maurik was not even a year in as CEO at mténv, a secondment agency for construction personnel. The company entered a difficult period, but Maurik believed in it, took the opportunity to become a significant shareholder and successfully turned mténv around. In 2018 he sold the company to Continu, a House of HR company.
With previous experience at Randstad, Greylam and KPN, Maurik is a genuine expert on Business Services.
PHILIP SPAAS
Entrepreneur & Digital Marketing expert / Associate Partner
Before Facebook was even present in the Netherlands, Philip co-founded online marketing agency Oogst. Initially focusing on search engine marketing, the company developed into a strategic online marketing partner that guarantees online results for its ambitious clients. In 2017 Philip sold Oogst to Merkle, a global top-10 performance marketing agency.
With his black belt in online marketing, Philip is our expert for all companies that could accelerate their growth with an improved online strategy.
Our Industry & Functional Experts
As we aim to provide as much added value as possible, SDG Capital is associated with several more industry and functional experts to complete the industries and areas of expertise we cover.
Christian Bubenheim
Digital (Platform) Expert / Functional Expert
‘Digital’ runs like a thread through Christian’s career, having spent years at Apple, Amazon and Autoscout24. At these companies, he gained deep experience with truly ‘digital-first’ strategies and developed skills in all related aspects, most notably digital marketing and product management. Christian has wide industry expertise, including mobile devices and services, new data and content-driven business models, deep customer engagement, industrial and transportation. He is also an expert in international expansion and the scaling of teams and processes.
After holding several leadership positions, Christian now helps various private equity-backed companies to implement their accelerated growth strategies. He actively mentors and engages with early-stage startups in Berlin and Barcelona.
Christian knows what is needed for a digital transformation in a mid-sized company. And he knows how to take a big step in digital with a modest budget.
Maiko van der meer
Entrepreneur & (Sustainable) Food Expert / Industry Expert
Maiko started his career at Unilever, where he was ultimately responsible for its global food ingredients and flavours business. In the years since, he has served in executive positions in the meat and seafood industry. While the plant-based movement started to really take off in the outside world, it remained quiet in the board rooms of the companies he worked for. Maiko got excited about the opportunity and started his own company in plant-based seafood: Novish. The company is growing fast, has raised capital and is one of the scale ups to watch!
Maiko is our expert in anything food related, with commercial skills ranging from B2B to FMCG and from branded to private label.
Doris Albisser
Entrepreneur & Business Services expert / Industry Expert