Kris brings 40 years of experience in the banking & communication sector and the Belgian innovation landscape. He served as Manager at a major Belgian bank and gained practical experience in launching and guiding startups within Fortis Venturing, the innovative hub of Fortis. His expertise spans both entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial domains.
iCare was a company offering services for dogs and their owners, creatively bridging the gap between the financial world and the pet industry. The innovative approach of iCare resulted in the launch of a full fledged Dog Insurance together with Corona Direct (now Belfius Direct). Kris’s innovative approach led to the recognition of the Flemish Government in 2006 as a ‘ Creative Fleming’ in the ‘ You are Flanders Future ‘ campaign of Flanders DC.
He became the innovation ambassador and inspired hundreds of new entrepreneurs with his consulting ( ex. Wim Ballieu – Balls & Glory, Just Russel,…) and his keynotes about his inspiring story of iCare.
The iCare case was internationaly recognized and used as an exemple of Open Innovation Management and is still used by IMD International ( Switserland), ESADE ( Barcelona),National University of Singapore,… Henry Chesbrough, Prof. Wim Van Haverbeke and Prof. Kris Vandervelpen still use the case as a speaking exemple of ecosystembuilding and intrapreneurial innovation. The Dog insurance is still up and running under the name Huisdierenverzekering Belfius Direct.
At BNP Paribas Fortis Private Banking, Kris managed communication and innovation during the merger of three major private banks. He was rewarded for his approach in 2013 when he received the international‘ Wealth Management Innovation Award’ for the creative use of web meetings in the newly build private bank.
He later transitioned to digital realm with Hello bank!, where he established creative partnerships within the Belgian business landscape and some large partners ex. Basic Fit, Route du Soleil, etc…Notably he played a key role in marketing the Belgian Crowdfunding Platform Hello crowd! (now Ulule) gaining substantial expertise in setting up crowdfunding campaigns.
The last part of his carreer he was Head of Internal Communication Management @BNP Paribas Fortis where he was the strategic communication partner for all Support & Control functions. He managed a team of senior communication managers that translates stakeholder objectives into effective Marketing & Communication strategies.Serving as dedicated ‘client director’ for internal stakeholders he insured the delivery innovative and impactfull communications ( Internal communication and external employer branding campaigns)
Kris is a dynamic and extravert people & project manager, entrepreneur and networker who gets energy from creating and realizing projects and enthusing people arround ideas.He loves organization,structure and efficiency.Nevertheless, his greates strenght lies in conceptual thinking and connecting the dots creating impactful communications with dedicated client focus.(Linchpin).