MRIguidance announces the appointment of Rik Jacobs as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective August 22, 2022. He will succeed Roel Raatgever, co-founder and former CEO who unexpectedly passed away in November 2021 and Peter Seevinck, co-founder and CSO who for the last nine months assumed responsibility as interim CEO. Rik will continue with Roel’s legacy, always oriented to positively impact people’s lives, and bring the company to a new commercial level with international expansion.

Rik’s appointment follows an extensive selection process that considered a wide variety of candidates. The board and co-founders have unanimously decided to propose Rik as the next CEO. He brings with him more than 20 years of managerial, commercial and entrepreneurial experience with a deep understanding of the medical device’s sector, which is critical for the next steps in the company’s growth.

Previous to MRIguidance, Rik Jacobs was the former CEO of Vertex Dental and in parallel founded in 2012 Nextdent, a Dutch startup that focused on 3D printing for dental applications. Nextdent was the first medical device manufacturing company in the world having received the class 2A certification on Denture, Orthodontic and Crown & Bridge applications. It was sold in 2017 after a successfully managed M&A process to 3D Systems (DDD Nasdaq). After the acquisition, he stayed another 4,5 years working for 3D Systems on the integration of the companies and further rolling out the go-to-market as VP Business Development.

“Rik is a very enthusiastic and commercial entrepreneur with experience in scaleups. We really look forward to continuing the adventure with him on board”, said Peter Seevinck, co-founder and interim CEO & CSO.

In cooperation with current management, Rik will further improve and strengthen MRIguidance’s growth and performance. Key priorities in the short term are accelerating commercial growth, expansion to the US and raising next year’s series A funding.