Jan Coppens is a founder, board member and former McKinsey consultant. He has raised over €15M in seed and early-growth capital from local and international investors. He works hands-on with tech startups, large companies and investment funds to turn technology into a business that grows.
I don’t hand over a report and leave. I join the pitch, the negotiation and the board meeting, and take interim or board roles when that helps.
You have strong technology. Investors and enterprise buyers aren’t convinced yet, and the team is stretched.
You raise faster, win your first enterprise customers and run the company with a professional operating rhythm.
You need to innovate faster than the organisation normally allows, or engage startups and new ventures.
New business lines launched at an operator’s pace, led by someone who has built one from scratch.
You are judging deep-tech deals or supporting portfolio companies and need a second pair of expert eyes.
Better-informed decisions from a PhD-level engineer and founder whose own rounds went through investor due diligence.
The full career history is on LinkedIn.
Example: I defined iMinds’ 2017–2021 strategy together with executive management and the board, and built Aloxy’s story from pre-seed to Series B.
Roles: iMinds (Director Corporate Strategy, 2014–2016); Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present). LinkedIn
Example: Strategic positioning, planning, budget forecast and valorisation business case for research projects at Bell Labs; investor-ready plans for Aloxy’s rounds.
Roles: Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs (Research Project Lead, 2006–2007); Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present). LinkedIn
Example: Raised over €15M in seed and early-growth capital for Aloxy from local and international investors, including Dow Venture Capital and Emerson Ventures. Board member at Viloc from seed stage to KPN Ventures’ investment.
Roles: Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present); iMinds Business Acceleration Programmes (2011–2014); Viloc (non-executive board member, 2013–2016). LinkedIn
Example: Secretary of the iMinds board and general assembly, Guberna Director Effectiveness training, legal closing of the iMinds–imec merger, and 18 patent families.
Roles: iMinds (Director Corporate Strategy, 2014–2016), secretary of the board; Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present); Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs (Research Project Lead, 2006–2007), patents; Guberna, Director Effectiveness (2013). LinkedIn
Example: Aloxy built a customer base of all major global chemical and oil & gas players, with Dow adopting its valve position sensors and a BASF pilot, and joined accelerators at Repsol and ORLEN.
Roles: Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present); McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011), Lean sales programme. LinkedIn
Example: Aloxy’s sensors, IIoT platform and LoRaWAN solutions; earlier, project lead of several externally funded research projects at Bell Labs.
Roles: Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present); Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs (Research Project Lead, 2006–2007). LinkedIn
Examples: Singapore (iMinds): I set up the iMinds Singapore office. Singapore (Aloxy): expansion in 2022. United States (Aloxy): expansion into North America in 2022.
Roles: iMinds Business Acceleration Programmes (2011–2014), Singapore office; Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present), North America and Singapore. LinkedIn
Example: Member of the iMinds executive committee; guest professor of entrepreneurship at Antwerp Management School (2014–2017).
Roles: iMinds (Director Corporate Strategy, 2014–2016), member of the executive committee; McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011), management coaching; Antwerp Management School (Guest Professor, 2014–2017). LinkedIn
Example: Set up the channel partner network at Aloxy. Closed the merger of iMinds with imec, from strategic positioning to operational integration. Led a team of intrapreneurs at Bell Labs in a corporate venture.
Roles: Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present), channel partner network; iMinds (Director Corporate Strategy, 2014–2016), iMinds–imec merger; imec (Strategic Development, 2016–2017); Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs (Research Project Lead, 2006–2007), corporate venture; McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Useful for: Scale-ups preparing to grow, and large companies with a complex IT landscape. Done for a European payments processor and a European utilities company.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Useful for: Scale-ups whose product development has outgrown ad-hoc processes, and corporates modernising IT.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Useful for: Companies moving from founder-led sales to a team, and corporates with a stalled commercial engine. Done for a European ICT company.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Useful for: Funds assessing telecom and infrastructure investments, and corporates planning international expansion.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011); iMinds (Director Corporate Strategy, 2014–2016), M&A. LinkedIn
Useful for: Fintech scale-ups selling to banks, and financial institutions and investors who want an insider’s view.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Useful for: Any client where the plan is clear but adoption is the challenge.
Roles: McKinsey & Company (Consultant, Benelux Business Technology Office, 2008–2011). LinkedIn
Roles: Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs (Research Project Lead, 2006–2007); Ghent University (PhD researcher, 2001–2006). LinkedIn
Roles: imec (Strategic Development, 2016–2017); Graphine (Advisor to the Board, 2012–2017); Aloxy (Founder & CEO 2017–2023, board member 2023–present). LinkedIn
Roles: iMinds Business Acceleration Programmes (2011–2014); Antwerp Management School (Guest Professor, 2014–2017); UC Berkeley Haas, Global Entrepreneurship Leadership Program (2011). LinkedIn
You describe where you are and what you need to happen next.
We agree the outcome, the time involved and how I plug into your team.
I work next to your team, or take an interim or board role when that fits better.
For investment funds
A deep-tech deal usually turns on two questions that a financial review cannot answer: does the technology work as claimed, and will customers pay for it at the scale in the plan? Investment teams rarely have the time or the specialists to answer both before the deadline.
A written report of 10 to 15 pages, ready for your investment committee:
Jan Coppens holds a PhD in computer science engineering from Ghent University and is a former McKinsey consultant. He co-founded Aloxy, an industrial IoT company, and was its CEO from 2017 to 2023. He is a board member there today. He has built a deep-tech company from first prototype to international customers, and holds patents in networking and IoT. Codem works with tech startups, large companies and investment funds.
| Package | Duration | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Focused review | 1 week | Technology assessment and short memo. No customer calls. Suited to pre-seed and seed. |
| Standard | 2 to 3 weeks | Full report, up to 5 customer or expert calls, plan stress test. |
| Extended | 3 to 4 weeks | Standard plus up to 8 calls and a review of the financial model. Suited to later rounds. |
Fixed scope and fixed fee, agreed before we start. Covered by an NDA, and Codem confirms in writing that it has no conflict of interest in the target.
Next step. If you have a deal in the pipeline, send me the company name and your deadline. I will reply within one working day with the right package, a fixed fee and a start date.
Book an intro callFor large companies and scale-ups
New products usually go wrong in the handover between idea and market. Engineering builds what is technically possible, sales asks for what customers will pay for, and nobody owns the answers to four questions: who is the first customer, what do they pay, who sells and supports it, and when do we stop? Without those answers, launches slip and budgets get cut.
At the end of the package, your management team has a decision-ready launch plan:
Weekly 45-minute check-in with your sponsor. A narrower scope can finish in 4 weeks.
Jan Coppens co-founded Aloxy, an industrial IoT company, and was its CEO from 2017 to 2023. He is now a board member and Chief Strategy and Business Development. He has taken new products from first prototype to international customers and set up a channel partner network along the way. He knows where launches usually go wrong: an unclear first customer, pricing, and finding who inside the customer’s organization pays. He holds a PhD in computer science engineering from Ghent University, is a former McKinsey consultant, and holds patents in networking and IoT.
| Package | Duration | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | 2 days | First view of the product, market and plan, with a clear recommendation on whether and how to launch. |
| New product introduction | 4 to 6 weeks | Everything listed under “What you get”. |
| Launch support | Monthly | Up to 3 days per month of advice during execution, available after the package. |
Fixed scope and fixed fee, agreed before we start. Covered by an NDA.
Next step. Send me a short description of the product you want to launch and your target date. I will reply within one working day with a view on whether the assessment or the full package fits, and a fixed fee.
Book an intro callFor tech startups and scale-ups
Most pitch decks fail for the same reason: they describe the technology instead of telling investors why this team will win a big market. Investors see dozens of decks a week and decide in minutes whether to take the next meeting. If the story is unclear, a strong product and a good team never get the chance to prove themselves.
At the end of the package, you have a story you can tell in five minutes and a deck that supports it:
Working sessions are short and hands-on, and your own team keeps ownership of the content. A final deck can be ready in 2 weeks when the material is already strong.
Jan Coppens has raised over €15M in seed and early-growth capital from local and international investors. He knows how venture funds and corporate investors read a pitch, because he has pitched to them and sat on the other side of the table: as a board member of Viloc from seed stage to KPN Ventures’ investment, as co-founder of the early-stage fund iStart, and as the person who designed the iMinds incubation programme, where he coached startups and ran their bootcamps. He holds a PhD in computer science engineering from Ghent University and is a former McKinsey consultant, so he can challenge both the technology and the business case.
| Package | Duration | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Story review | 2 days | Detailed feedback on your current deck and a sketch of a stronger storyline. |
| Storyline and pitch deck | 2 to 3 weeks | Everything listed under “What you get”. |
| Fundraising support | Monthly | Up to 3 days per month during the round: investor targeting, introductions, extra rehearsals and support on term sheets. |
Fixed scope and fixed fee, agreed before we start. Covered by an NDA. No one can promise a funding outcome. What this package gives you is a story and a deck that hold up in front of investors.
Next step. Send me your current deck, or a few lines about your company, and the date you want to start raising. I will reply within one working day with a view on whether the story review or the full package fits, and a fixed fee.
Book an intro call