{"id":347905,"date":"2025-12-17T08:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T08:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/angel-investor\/bas-van-rens-founder-of-truekinetix\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T08:50:06","slug":"bas-van-rens-founder-of-truekinetix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=347905","title":{"rendered":"Bas van Rens (Founder of TrueKinetix)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Bas van Rens is the Founder and CEO of <\/span>TrueKinetix<\/span><\/a>, a company that offers a smart bike that makes indoor cycling as smooth as outside. While combining opportunities and technology give Bas energy, his entrepreneurial mind makes him look for shortcuts that solve problems and make people\u2019s lives easier. TrueKinetix recently reached <\/span>\u20ac2.5 million<\/span><\/a> through crowdfunding and direct investments. One of the investors is Olympic and world champion Anna van der Breggen, who also uses the bike. Check out the top three lessons for founders Bas shared with us, and find out what\u2019s the growth potential of his company.
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<\/span>1. Hi Bas, thank you for agreeing to do the interview. Could you tell us a bit about your background and how you entered the startup world?<\/b><\/p>\n

My first connection to the startup world was when I was 14 and I made a distance meter for my bike out of a magnet, sensor and a calculator. I sold around ten of them to the local bike shops. I\u2019ve always liked electronics and coming up with solutions to problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

After studying mechanical engineering and doing a PhD in numerical mechanics, I started working for Philips Research and within a half year there, my boss said I should use my business interests alongside my research background to look at new business development. So I started an internal startup inside Philipps to produce rollable displays. We manufactured the first roll up display in 2002. Right now there are folding phones and roll up screens, based to a certain degree on that technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, I founded <\/span>TrueKinetix<\/span><\/a>, a company that offers a smart bike that makes your indoor ride as smooth as outside. All of my youth, I\u2019ve been very sportive and 10 years ago I started to do triathlons. I got so fed up with cycling indoors that I thought there has to be a better solution. That was the start of TrueKinetix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Could you tell us more about the idea that got TrueKinetix<\/a> started and the growth potential of the company?<\/b><\/p>\n

When I got fed up with cycling indoors I did a lot of my workouts on a loop around the airport (60km). I started analyzing what the problem was and basically, the forces that you feel while cycling outdoors are very different from what you feel when cycling indoors. The reason for that is that when you cycle indoors you have a flywheel that\u2019s there to mimic your body weight but it doesn\u2019t give you the accurate forces that you need. Therefore, you cannot really get rid of your energy. You get tired but you don\u2019t get better at cycling.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to make a decent indoor cycle for myself. I calculated that I needed a flywheel of 450 kg, which wasn\u2019t going to work. So one day, when I was driving my hybrid car and I was breaking, a light lit up saying \u2013 you\u2019re regenerating energy and storing it in your battery. Then I thought I could use a motor to generate the braking force and that way I can control resistance very accurately and quickly. It turned out to be a lot harder than I thought, but that was the start of <\/span>TrueKinetix<\/span><\/a>. In 2019 the company was officially founded.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, we grew by 300%. We\u2019re 30 people now. The feedback from customers is really amazing. More than 75% of the people that tried the bike actually bought it. That proves to us that we\u2019re game-changing indoor cycling by making it feel much more realistic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. What is it about entrepreneurship that particularly attracts you? How do you feel you\u2019re contributing to the startup ecosystem in the Netherlands?<\/b><\/p>\n

What gives me energy is combining opportunities and technology. And looking for shortcuts that solve problems for the end consumer. I also like the thrill of risk-taking. As an entrepreneur, you have to have unwavering faith in your own ability to solve the problems you\u2019ll find along the way. Entrepreneurs have to make these problems as small as possible and chip away at them one little step at a time. You have to focus on what you can fix today, keeping the long-term goal in perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n

The startup ecosystem in the Netherlands is quite difficult due to the rules and regulations. The way we contribute is by giving people an awesome job in very cool new technology. Younger people that stayed with us for several years got jobs in bigger companies, and one of the reasons is because we\u2019ve taught them to work in a structured way. I really believe it pays off to invest in people and their growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Could you share the top three lessons for founders you\u2019ve learned through your own experience?<\/b><\/p>\n