Pillar emerges from a deep entrepreneurial drive.

We have both spent our careers advising and financing other people's companies - over a decade in corporate finance, private equity, and strategy consulting, more than 30 M&A transactions between us, and businesses taken from 20 to 250 employees. We have also both run companies of our own, and that is the part that shaped how we invest.

Pillar exists to bring together a select group of entrepreneurs and investors we actually want to work with. In practice that means people who co-invest in each other's deals and pick up the phone when something goes wrong. A community, not a portfolio.

Thomas Van Roy

Managing Partner

Meet Thomas, the founding force behind Pillar. His infectious passion for entrepreneurship comes from walking the path himself.

Early entrepeneurial succes was followed by over a decade in corporate finance, orchestarting 30+ M&A transactions, and private equity at Green Park Investment Partners, scaling businesses to hundreds of employees (like Dynapps), building multi-agency groups (like Make it Fly), and driving SaaS transformations (like KPD).

At its core, Pillar is built on his ambition to create valuable companies within this tight-knit community of passionate people.

Radko Bartunek

Managing Partner

Meet Radko, the operator behind Pillar's day-to-day work with portfolio companies.

A decade spent advising companies on high-stakes calls left him wanting more skin in the game alongside entrepreneurs.

His view on how businesses are built comes from both sides of the table: Partner at Boston Consulting Group after 10+ years in New York and Brussels, driving value creation across go-to-market, corporate finance and strategy - and 2 years running a software business of his own.

At Pillar, he focuses on helping portfolio companies grow through strategic initiatives, from go-to-market execution to post-merger integration.

Community

  • Jelle Geerts

    IT & infrastructure: Jelle is the founder of Nexu, the outsourced IT department for Flemish SMEs. At Pillar, he brings that operational IT experience to our portfolio companies.

  • John Galeyn

    Branding & marketing: John is a serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled several companies on the strength of their brand - Jaswig, Fully, dear digital. At Pillar, he advises on brand, proposition and sales.

  • Klaas Vandeputte

    Talent & consulting: Klaas built Eolis into a group of specialist consulting brands with expertise in People and Org topics. At Pillar, he advises on people-led businesses and on growing by acquisition.

  • Niels Desot

    ERP & e-commerce: Niels grew dear digital from nothing to sixty people and two acquisitions, and to top-tier partner status with both Odoo and Shopify. At Pillar, he advises on platform choices and buy-and-build.

  • Rob Cuijvers

    Digital marketing: Rob is the founder of Creatic, a digital marketing agency for ambitious SMEs. At Pillar, he advises on demand generation and how portfolio companies win customers online.

  • Samuel Rieder

    Tech & AI: Sam is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and scaled tech and e-commerce ventures as CTO. At Pillar, he advises on architecture, data and where AI genuinely helps.

Mathieu Cardinael - CEO make it fly

"I worked closely with Thomas for several years and came to know him as an exceptionally reliable and honest professional. He always thinks long-term, with a clear vision and strategic insight.

Thomas has a thorough understanding of the digital business and consistently knows how to set the right priorities. What also sets him apart is his easy accessibility and openness to discussion—both formal and informal. A collaboration with Thomas is always built on trust, transparency, and progress."

Karel Hendrickx - Founder and former CEO of Dynapps

"Thomas is a driven individual whose expertise allows him to provide the right information in a no-nonsense manner, empowering entrepreneurs and business owners to make sound decisions. He was always ready to offer his advice, approaching every question with careful judgment."

Interested in joining the Pillar community?

Get in touch