Inspiring stories

Thom Uildriks battled his way to victory in a boxing ring for the I WILL Award 2018 competition at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). The bachelor student won with Boxrs4ALL, the company he co-founded with his friend Spijk Geene that gives a pair of underwear to someone in Tanzania for every pair of boxers that is sold. Winning the award was exhilarating, Thom says, and he has been working hard since, trying to figure out a way for Boxrs4ALL to gain more traction and make a larger impact. We sat down with Thom to ask him how things are going.

So how has Boxrs4ALL been doing since you won the I WILL Award?

“Actually, the prize money has been instrumental in getting some things off the ground. We’ve hired a developer to professionalize our website, and we’ve hired someone to work on our packaging. We’ve also been talking to retailers about getting the underwear onto store shelves. But we’ve noticed that the bulk sales are made online, not in physical stores. Stores might be the place where the first purchase is made, but once people know what they want and like, they do their repurchasing online.”

What are some ways you’re planning on doing that?

“The number we’re selling now is good, but not on a larger scale. We’re looking into collaborating with companies that can sponsor us. This will provide more work for those making the underwear in Tanzania—the setup we have to support the local economy—and in turn give away a considerable amount of underwear. As a thank you, we give the company 100 pairs of underwear to distribute among employees. We’re also looking into getting more media coverage. We’ve been featured a few times but we want to get more recognition among potential customers.”

Where did the idea originate? And why underwear?

“In secondary school, Spijk and I went to Tanzania on a school exchange trip. Meeting the other schoolboys was awkward at first, but to break the ice we started playing football. We found out that it is common for them not to own any underwear, and it just really hit us and we wanted to do something about it. When we got back to the Netherlands, we learned more about the health risks that come from not wearing underwear and that’s where our idea took off.”

You started Boxrs4ALL at a young age, and you’re now a bachelor student. Do you ever stop and think about your achievements?

“We started this at 16 because we enjoyed it. It started with writing up texts and sketching logos. We both see it as a learning process and that it’s not about making money. A lot of young people start companies because they think they need to create the best of something, but Spijk and I started this because we thought it was important and we really enjoy it. It sounds cliché, but that’s really how it is for us. At the end of the day, in 10 or 20 years the contacts that we’ll have made will be really valuable.”

Where do you think that inherent motivation to do good comes from?

“I partly grew up in Brazil, and my mother worked as a volunteer for a foundation in the middle of the favelas. The money they made went directly back into the favelas. I remember going home to a nice house with people who took care of the household whereas 50 meters up the road another family was living in a house of 16m². It struck me how lucky I was to be in the position we were and I guess that and seeing the work my mother did is what led to me having this motivation.”

How has RSM been helpful in working on a startup?

“The minor in entrepreneurship taught me a lot, in particular a new way of thinking. I learned that a lot of things can change, and don’t go according to plan. It’s definitely been the case with our company; we thought that going a certain direction was the smart thing to do, but then things changed. Next to giving away a pair of underwear, we’re now looking into providing sanitation workshops in Tanzania, to teach schoolboys about the importance of washing their hands and brushing their teeth.”

Do you have any advice for fellow students or young professionals in the startup scene?

“A lot of young people often start companies because they have a vision of how something ought to look like or be, or they’re looking to make a newer and better version of an existing product. The funny thing is that this isn’t how successful startups typically begin or how they take off. They’ll start with small ideas and through feedback, demands, and a lot of twists and turns become what they are. Take Airbnb for example. It started out with two guys in California who couldn’t afford their rent and thought of renting out a mattress in their apartment and turn it into a bed and breakfast. I would say, try to allow for diversions and for things to go differently than planned because you never know where it might take you.” 

Jeroen Burks: recycling energy from data centres to greenhouses  

Businesses that aim to create positive change are integral to our society. Meet Jeroen Burks, who won the I WILL Award 2020. Here’s how his sustainability-focused business venture Blockheating came about, and how it’s going now.

Jeroen studied applied physics in Delft, and then came to RSM for his BSc in business administration in 2010, followed by RSM’s master in finance, which he completed in 2014. Four years later, he founded Blockheating which develops and designs data centre technology that recycles the waste heat from servers and uses it as a heating source for greenhouses.

“Basically, we give the server energy that is used in the data centres a second purpose, because at the moment, its usually fed to the birds,” Jeroen explains. “And most of the time even with an air conditioning running, even consuming more power to keep it all cool, we can choose a different technology to keep the servers cool and be used by the greenhouse at the same time.”

Jeroen’s team put Blockheating’s first data centre into place in July 2020. With the prize money from the I WILL Award, they hired a chief commercial officer to get the commercial proposition ready, and now they are talking to their first customers who want to run in the data centre.

The next steps for Blockheating are to spread its data centres across the Netherlands and later Europe. “We want to decrease the energy used by data centres and increase the energy recycled by data centres. Our goal is to put 30 data centres in place in the next five years,” says Jeroen.

He is living up to his I WILL statement ‘I WILL be an active alumnus’. Jeroen participated in an RSM sailing regatta, in the I WILL Award, and is still connected with fellow RSM-ers from his study years. “If I could change my statement, then I’d now go for ‘I WILL make the world a more sustainable place for our generation and future generations’.”

Being a force for positive change isn’t a one-time action. Everything changes over time, and sometimes ambitions and plans need to change with it. That has been particularly true for plans and ambitions over the past 12 months. Tanara Sahgal (MSc Marketing Management 2021) is a student assistant for the I WILL movement at RSM and is catching up with people whose ambitions were in the spotlight last year. Here, she writes about her conversation with a finalist from the I WILL Awards 2020.

The I WILL Awards are always an exciting time at RSM, allowing us a look into the practical ambitions and business proposals from individuals in the RSM community, with one common goal in mind: to create a positive impact through their willpower.

Although only one finalist can win the I WILL Award, the ideas and efforts of the other finalists do not go unrecognised. The I WILL Award 2020 recognised the ideas of six finalists, including Edward Hoogedoorn: founder of Fuujse, a start-up that provides single easy-to-use covers that hide scary-looking intravenous infusion bags for children in hospital. Edward not only gave a great pitch to put him into the final round, he also went home with the audience prize of €2,000. The I WILL movement caught up with Edward for answers to our burning questions about him, his company and what he’s been up to since his pitch at the final of the I WILL Award in July 2020.

What is Fuusje and how do you think it is a force for positive change?

“A Fuusje is a humorous cover for children’s infusion bags, to create a positive light on their medical treatments. I believe that we should create more awareness of the psychological aspects of the treatment of young patients. I saw the effects of hospitalisation on a patient and their direct surroundings and thought that it could be done better. The positive change? That is something others need to decide; readers, hospital staff or patients. I just look for things that I could improve and hopefully, it inspires others to also tackle health care problems.”

Generally, what have you and your team been up to since the I WILL Award finals? Are you still a part of Fuusje? 

“Yes, although hospitals have some other things on their mind right now. Although it should not sound like an excuse, it is the reality we are facing. Extra projects like Fuusje are not a priority. That’s completely logical, but also challenging for us. We have not given up hope, but we have decided to save our energy for better times. We have worked on our strategy and the back-end part of the company, which will enable us to flourish when COVID-19 is gone.”

Fuusje won the audience prize of € 2,000 last year. What did you use it for? 

“We spent some money on creating German designs and translations. Furthermore, we made some investments so we can be active on the German market. Most importantly, we saved the majority of the money for our launch in the German market. Our goal is to send samples of the kits to some selected hospitals so they can see in real life how Fuusje works. ‘Less talking, more actually delivering Fuusjes in hospitals!’”

What are your future ambitions?

“My goals are still that Fuusje should be available for every patient worldwide, no matter what! Furthermore, I think Fuusje and the story of Fuusje could be an inspiring story for people all around the world to improve the world for the better.” 

What was your I WILL statement and why? Do you think it has changed since the I WILL Award 2020? 

I WILL make Fuusje world-famous!
“One step at a time I am getting there, maybe not at the speed I dreamt about, but I am moving, and I will make it.”

“I executed my I WILL statement immediately”

It all happened just before Niels van Deuren’s study exchange programme in Singapore. “It was hard to rent out my student room for the five-month exchange period,” says Niels. “Through the university’s International Office, I met an incoming exchange student who needed a temporary place. All it took was one meet-up and the deal was done.”

Going abroad temporarily

Niels van Deuren came up with an idea to give international students easier access to a room abroad. His straight-forward I WILL statement followed soon after, and was executed right away. Upon returning to the Netherlands, Niels used his willpower and persistence to work on the concept more, and gathered a team of friends and like-minded people and created Housing Anywhere in 2009.

Housing Anywhere is an online platform where students can easily find housing or rent out their room when going abroad for an internship or on exchange. After being a finalist the I WILL Award competition in 2012, Housing Anywhere has continued to grow and grow. “The I WILL Award competition has helped Housing Anywhere to keep in line with the main focus and thought behind the platform,” says Niels.

Daily new experiences

Hundreds of international students now book a room abroad through Housing Anywhere on a monthly basis. Niels’ organisation is now active in more than 80 countries and 900+ cities, providing students all over the world with an easy and secure method of finding or renting out their rooms during their studies.

“The international team of Housing Anywhere makes every day a new experience,” says Niels, adding that he plans to bring Housing Anywhere to an even higher level. “We all work together on completing that one goal: housing students anywhere.

Niels van Deuren
Founder of Housing Anywhere, finalist at the I WILL Award 2012

"Sometimes existing structures need to be reinvented for the better”

Growing up in Tanzania, Olivier Smeenk saw that the level of impact that can be achieved through financial aid and NGO intervention is limited. He then had an idea with a solid plan, which won the I WILL Award 2016.

Low-cost weather monitoring solution

His plan for Kukua started when he was sailing in Tanzania’s Msasani Bay with a large group of other enthusiasts, including Kukua’s co-founder Tom Vanneste. “When sailing we noticed that we could gain a competitive advantage by monitoring the weather conditions, but to our surprise this data was not readily available in Tanzania,” says Olivier, adding that when they found out the majority of African countries had this issue, he and Tom decided that they needed to solve it.

Preparing for unexpected droughts and floods

Olivier and Tom saw that many farmers were not surviving the dry seasons; they did not know when to expect the rains to come due to the climate change. “We couldn’t bear witnessing this, so our plan would be to install a dense network of weather stations and to provide the data to smallholder farmers.”

Kukua was officially founded in 2015 when it received a €90,000 grant from the EU for implementing its idea. Kukua had already established a partnership with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and installed 20 weather stations as a pilot to prove that the technology works. “We developed a full-scale web application on which our data is accessible and our devices can be monitored, as well as our required SMS service”

Growing the ecosystem

Kukua won the I WILL Award 2016, and is using the €15,000 prize money to enhance its weather service for African farmers to provide food security. “We also partnered with IHS towers in 2016, a company that will invest in our development as they require our wind and solar data, and will host our weather stations safely on their telecom tower property,” says Olivier. He adds that at the moment 60 weather stations are being installed across Northern and Southern Nigeria by Kukua’s local partners, and he plans to start providing data to customers before the end of the year.

Kukua’s mission is to install 10,000 weather stations in the next five years across Sub-Saharan Africa. For this, the organisation is working on growing the ecosystem that will support this development, including public funds, data customers, NGOs that work with smallholder farmers, and other weather data companies.

Olivier Smeenk, Dutch

BSc International Business Administration (Alumnus)