Thomas Van Elzakker | CEO
Thomas Van Elzakker joined FOx BIOSYSTEMS with international business management experience in the medtech sector, having worked for corporates Philips and Medtronic, as well as Dutch ophthalmology startup i-Optics. His career is characterized by building and growing business initiatives, bringing new products to market, and driving commercial success.
Thomas holds an MSc in applied computer science from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Filip Delport | CTO & co-founder
Filip Delport started his professional career with a PhD in bionanotechnology at the Bioengineering faculty of KU Leuven. There, he was awarded an IWT innovation mandate scholarship to prepare the fiber optic SPR biosensor technology for the creation of a spin-off company. Together with a group of other young PhD students, he won the Battle of Talents competition for young entrepreneurs in Belgium with the FO-SPR technology.
As CTO of FOx BIOSYSTEMS, he manages the technological, biotechnical, regulatory, management and financial aspects needed to create the next-generation fiber-optic SPR biosensor.
Steven Lauwers | COO
For the last 15 years, Steven has worked in the health care & life science sector with a wide variety of actors on their managerial and strategic challenges, as well as translating their strategies into efficient operations. His key area of expertise lies in preparing fast-growing and disruptive companies for successful scaling up.
As a COO, Steven will assure the smooth running of daily business, while keeping the eye on the horizon, setting the company & all resources up for successful growth.
Kris Ver Donck | Vice President Marketing & Applications
Kris Ver Donck joined FOx BIOSYSTEMS in March 2020 as Chief Commercial Officer coordinating marketing, sales and business development.
He has experience in developing scientific technology from a range of organizations across Europe, including Johnson & Johnson, Trinean and the University of Luxembourg. Some of his achievements include leading the development of a high-throughput image analysis platform, supporting development to clinical trials and rebuilding sales channels.
Kris holds an MSc in biochemistry from the University of Antwerp.
Board of directors
Katleen Vandersmissen | President of the board
Katleen Vandersmissen is Managing Partner of HERAN Partners, a Belgian-based venture capital firm with strong scientific and entrepreneurial DNA and a clear focus on European HealthTech & MedTech. She holds a PhD in chemistry and postgraduate in corporate finance.
Katleen started her career heading one of the R&D and QA labs of Umicore. She later joined McKinsey, focusing on strategy and M&A. In 2013, she switched to venture capital as investment manager and later as Head of the Health & Care department at institutional investor LRM. She has extensive experience as a board member within technology and life science companies such as EpiGaN, Apitope, Bedal, Lynxcare and Ugentec.
Jeroen Lammertyn | Board member and co-founder
Jeroen Lammertyn is Professor in Bionanotechnology at the KU Leuven. In 2001 he obtained a PhD in bioscience engineering from KU Leuven. As postdoctoral fellow he spent one year as a research associate at the Pennsylvania State University, USA.
He is currently head of the Biosensors group of KU Leuven’s Biosystems department. The group’s research focuses on developing novel bio-molecular detection concepts and miniaturized analysis systems, with a broad range of applications, including in the food and medical diagnostics industries.
Jeroen has authored or co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed research papers and over 100 conference papers and acts as reviewer for many international peer-reviewed journals. He is Technical Program Committee member of MEMS, MicroTAS and Transducers conferences and is laureate of more than 10 scientific awards throughout his career.
Dries Bauters | Board member
Dries Bauters is investment manager at LRM NV, an investment company which develops and stimulates economic growth in Limburg (Belgium).
Dries began his career by moving from academic R&D to a venture capital-backed software start-up. In 2019, he switched to venture capital as an investment manager with a focus on HealthTech & MedTech companies. He is also board member of several LRM portfolio companies.
Dries obtained his PhD in biomedical sciences from KU Leuven in 2016, and also holds a postgraduate in corporate finance.
Bart Geers | Board member
Bart Geers graduated cum laude as master in pharmaceutical sciences in 2008, after which he obtained a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from Ghent University in 2013.
Bart began his career in the pharmaceutical industry and later became manager of the multidisciplinary research platform on nano- and biophotonics (NB-photonics) at Ghent University. He gained deep insight into photonics technology and used his life science background to generate translational projects, including Antelope Dx, a lab-on-chip diagnostics spin-off.
Currently, Bart works as investment manager for KULeuven Research & Development (LRD) where he coaches start-up projects in health- and biotechnology. Bart holds board positions in various KU Leuven spin-offs.
