Experience
Outcome-first, role by role — from export desk to the board table.
Board, advisory & governance
Governance built first-hand.
Chairman of the Board & Founder-CEO
Tekle Holographics B.V.
- Chairs the board and built the company’s governance from the ground up — supervisory-board structure, STAK employee-participation vehicle and certification, cap table, and shareholder agreements.
- Steering a live restructuring and recapitalization while holding the board and shareholder base aligned through change.
Open to independent non-executive board and advisory roles. The value on offer is governance capability built first-hand — supervisory structure, cap tables, financing and turnaround — paired with an operator’s commercial judgment. (Chairing a company he founded is real governance experience; it is not the same as an independent directorship, and the record here does not blur that line.)
Career
The track record.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Tekle Holographics B.V.
- Founded a deep-tech company developing glasses-free (“brilvrije”) holographic display technology, taking it from concept through working prototype, intellectual property, and international commercialization.
- Built the commercial pipeline in defense and safety & security markets — winning engagement from an international naval-defense program and managing distributor partners across Europe and Israel.
- Directed the company’s intellectual-property strategy; named inventor on four patent applications covering the core display technology.
- Structured a venture financing round — cap-table design, investor terms and an employee participation vehicle (STAK) — supported by a full investor documentation suite and data room.
- Recruited and led a cross-functional team spanning engineering, solutioning and commercial functions.
- Currently leading a strategic restructuring and recapitalization to carry the technology and business into its next phase.
Founder & Managing Director
Tekle B.V.
- Founded and single-handedly ran an IT firm supplying data-center and office hardware to enterprise clients.
- Generated €19 million in turnover in 2019 — as a one-person company.
- Recognized as the largest Microsoft Surface partner in the Benelux, operating solo.
- Identified the potential of holographic display technology in 2020, wound down the IT business and reinvested fully to found Tekle Holographics.
Founder
UNAS
- Founded a mission-driven video platform enabling charity and aid workers to share their work and earn through advertising revenue and follower donations — a “YouTube for good.”
- When outsourced development failed to deliver a workable platform, taught himself to code — becoming a technical founder, a capability central to his work today.
Export Manager
Globility Connect
- Joined as a junior account manager and was promoted to Export Manager within three years.
- Created, hired and led the company’s export division from the ground up — its largest and most productive unit — growing it to 45 people.
- The export division came to account for 60% of company sales and 70% of purchasing volume.
Media Relations — DACH Region
TomTom
- Led press and media relations for the German-speaking (DACH) markets.
Patents & IP
Named inventor on four patent applications in glasses-free holographic display technology, filed with Octrooicentrum Nederland (the Netherlands Patent Office).
Education & languages
BSc Psychology (Tennessee State University); schooled in Darmstadt and Nashville. Native English, Dutch and German; fluent Tigrinya. More on the About page →
Open to senior executive, board, and advisory roles.