The Randstad, Netherlands
Mr. Bastiaan Van der Knaap started his career at ING Group N.V. Netherlands as Senior Relations Manager and subsequently held various management positions at ING in the Netherlands. Upon successful conclusion of a management development programme at IMD Switzerland (Institute for Management Development) he gained professional international experience as Director Structured Lending at ING Barings in South Africa from 2001 until 2004. In 2004 he was appointed Districts Director ING, based in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. In this role he was responsible for Wholesale Banking / Business Banking /Mid Corporate Banking. He terminated his association with ING in a mutual agreement in June 2015, to take on the new challenge of becoming Managing Director of the financial strategic consultancy firm First Dutch Group. In December 2016 he was appointed Managing Director of the Rotterdam Port Fund and the recently established Rotterdam Port Seed Fund till present. He also became Partner and shareholder of Realconomy, based in Rotterdam From 2005 until 2010 he served as Chairman of the Board of the South Africa-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (SANEC), after which he became member of the SANEC Honorary Advisor Committee. Present external functions include : Chairman of the Supervisory Board of First Dutch Innovations (Delft), member of the Advisory Board of Wayland (Bergschenhoek), member of the Advisory Board of Mama Taxi (Rotterdam), Chairman of the board of the Rotterdam Running Ambassadors and member of the project group Impact Investing of the Municipality of Rotterdam.
Rotterdam Port Fund is an independent investment fund that supports innovating companies – active in and around North Western Europe’s harbour industry – that have a need for growth capital. Havenbedrijf Rotterdam, NIBC Bank, Innovationquarter, Koninklijke Doeksen and Rotterdam based entrepreneurs Peter Goedvolk and Luc Braams have initiated the fund.
Realconomy is a development and investment company in the area of urban economic development. We focus on complex area developments and new businesses who add value to the attractiveness of our cities and to the Next Economy. More information about our business profile and portfolio on www.realconomy.com.