At ViCentra, we like to keep things simple. We believe that if products are easy to use, look beautiful and deliver unbeatable results, they’ll be satisfying to use and more likely to help people achieve everything they want to.
It all started back in 2013, when two engineers with professional backgrounds in insulin pumping and close personal links to people with diabetes set about trying to shake things up. Our engineers thought the existing pumping options were a little rigid, plenty bland, and they saw what other companies seemed not to: the fact that each person with diabetes is different, with different tastes and needs. So, they got to work designing and making Kaleido: a simple, user friendly insulin pump.
Since then, proving that diabetes is no untamable beast has stayed at ViCentra’s centre. Our mission was set: to shrink diabetes back down to size and minimise the impact it has on the lives of people who live with it every day. The Kaleido system consists of two pumps and one handset, and thanks to a one-of-a-kind pumping mechanism, our pumps are small – 50 x 35 x 12.5mm, to be precise. We have pump and body patches and two different lengths of tubing to allow our users to choose how to wear it and our pumps and handset come in 10 rainbow-spanning colour combinations.
We want to make sure people with diabetes have a voice. And we feel it’s so important that we listen. That’s why, alongside making Kaleido, we’ve made strong links within the diabetes community. As well as checking in often with our current and potential users, we work with other organizations, like our friends at Diabeloop and JDRF, to help develop ideas and continue to make things better for those rocking Type 1.
We know that creating brilliant products doesn’t end in the lab though – we also believe in the power of great customer experiences. So, we’re creating healthcare products with this philosophy firmly in mind. At ViCentra, we don’t design for patients – we design for people.
Our Team
Tom Arnold
Leo Toole
CFO
Leo joined ViCentra in January 2023, bringing more than 25 years’ experience in the medical technology, pharmaceutical, and FMCG sectors. His experience includes building finance teams, completing public & private financing and executing several mergers & acquisitions. From Ireland, he is a business graduate from Trinity College Dublin with an MBA from INSEAD. Leo is very motivated to deliver disruptive technology that improves lives. For fun, he helps coach his kids’ sports teams and goes hiking.
Tim Oakes
CTO and Co-founder
As co-founder, we wouldn’t be where we are today without Tim. Tim is an award-winning design engineer with over seven years of experience in the medical device field, mostly related to drug delivery systems. Having grown up with a father with Type 1 diabetes, Tim has first-hand knowledge of the challenges of trying to fit medical devices into daily life. Tim’s ultimate goal for Kaleido? To keep things simple so Kaleido can make life easier for people with diabetes.
Regina Farsina
With 15+ years of experience across FMCG, Retail, and Sustainability, Regina brings deep expertise in designing irresistible workplaces that attract, develop, and retain top talent. Regina worked across various continents and cultures both in multinational and scale-up organizations. She is passionate about creating sustainable businesses by building strong foundations and focussing on the culture.
Reman McDonagh
VP Global Marketing
Reman brings more than 20 years of diabetes expertise across Roche, Medtronic, Cellnovo, and Insulet. A seasoned medical device marketing leader in upstream and downstream marketing across international markets. Reman combines end-to-end commercial experience with a strong track record in brand strategic planning, Go To Market execution and scaling demand responsibly while maintaining excellence in customer experience. She is known for building high-performing teams and enabling effective execution to accelerate adoption.
Karen Baxter
SVP Sales
Karen Baxter is an accomplished healthcare leader with nearly 20 years of experience across European diabetes markets. She joins from Dexcom, where she spent over nine years and most recently served as Vice President and General Manager for Northern Europe and selected international markets. Previously, she has held senior executive roles at Innovex, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, and Johnson & Johnson. Karen is deeply committed to expanding access to healthcare solutions for broad populations.
Pieter Van Hoof
SVP of Operations
Pieter joined ViCentra in July 2021 and is responsible for ViCentra’s Operations. Since the start of his career, Pieter has predominantly developed his Operations expertise working in the pharmaceutical, chemical and medical device industry assuming various increasingly more responsible roles in manufacturing, supply Chain and general management always with a focus on developing an effective and efficient Operations organization. Outside work he enjoys spending time with his family and getting together with friends for a good ride on the gravel bike and supporting his local football team.
Jay Little
VP Strategy & Business Development
Jay Little joined ViCentra in October 2025 as Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, bringing nearly 25 years of leadership across the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. Jay spent the previous 18 years at Medtronic in the US, where he held pivotal roles in sales and market access leadership. At ViCentra, he oversees corporate strategy, business development, and strategic partnerships. A specialist in market access and commercial execution, Jay is focused on driving long-term scalability and commercial readiness. He is deeply committed to expanding access to transformative diabetes technologies and building the global alliances necessary to bring the Kaleido experience to the diabetes community.
Kees den Besten
Kees den Besten joined ViCentra in 2024 as VP of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs (QARA). With over 30 years of experience in the medical device industry, Kees has held leadership roles at Medtronic, Cordis (J&J), Baxter, HOYA Surgical Optics and most recently, DORC International. His career started at the regulatory body KEMA and from there he moved to industry, where he’s led global QARA operations and driven quality management initiatives. Kees is passionate about ensuring product excellence and user safety, and at ViCentra, he’s focused on building a culture of continuous improvement in quality and compliance.
Our Board
Jan Keltjens
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Jan joined our Board as Chairman in 2017. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of JenaValve Technologies Inc. Prior to this he served as Chairman of Nightbalance, Board member and CEO of Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation, Chairman and CEO of Endosense SA, Executive Chairman of Surpass Medical, President and CEO of AngioDynamics Inc [NASDAQ:ANGO] and CEO of CryoCath Technologies Inc. [TSX:CYT]. In addition, he is associated with a number of venture capital funds. These include NextGen Ventures and Brightlands Venture Partner Funds.
Jan also served as Worldwide General Manager at Cordis Neurovascular, a Johnson & Johnson company, as well as various global and regional leadership roles in Operations, R&D and Marketing at Cordis, Johnson & Johnson. Prior to this, Jan led R&D departments at Unilever.
Thijs Cohen Tervaert
Thijs Cohen Tervaert is a Junior Partner at INKEF. Thijs currently also serves on the board of TargED BioPharmaceuticals, Calypso Biotech, iOnctura, Audion Therapeutics, Aidence and Castor. Prior to INKEF, Thijs was a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group with a focus on health care and technology. He worked on projects for pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and insurers. During a one year secondment, Thijs helped to establish the Amsterdam Health and Technology Institute in 2014. Thijs is a medical doctor and graduated at Leiden University. He has also co-authored several scientific papers.
Anne Portwich
Anne Portwich is a Partner in the EQT Life Sciences team. Anne worked for LSP from 2001 until 2022, when LSP joined forces with EQT and was renamed EQT Life Sciences.
Prior to joining LSP, Anne worked as a Scientist and Project Leader at OctoPlus in Leiden, the Netherlands. Anne holds an MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Hanover and a PhD from the Max-Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology in Bremen.
Jan Paul van Geen
Jan Paul van Geen is Partner at Partners in Equity since 2020 and joined the board of ViCentra in January 2023. Next to ViCentra, Jan Paul currently holds several board positions at other portfolio companies and funds in the PiE portfolio. Prior to joining Partners in Equity Jan Paul had several management positions within ABN AMRO and Vodafone on the intersection of strategy and operations. Jan Paul is member of the advisory board of Bartimeus Fonds.
Linze Dijkstra
Linze Dijkstra is a managing partner at Health Innovations and has 20 years of experience in healthcare. Linze sits on the board of ViCentra and is investor director at several of the portfolio companies of Health Innovations, including NovioSense (continuous glucose monitoring), NightBalance (a sleep position trainer for people with sleep apnea) and Stroke2prevent (preventing strokes during cardiac surgery). Prior to Health Innovations, Linze was Director Healthcare at ABN Amro, where he was responsible for the company’s healthcare activities in the Netherlands. Linze also worked as a healthcare-consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of Twente.
Remmert Laan
Remmert (Rem) Laan, is President of Diabetes Insights, LLC, a consulting company specialising in marketing and business development for manufacturers of diabetes drugs, devices and apps and he brings expert knowledge of the diabetes market to ViCentra’s Board . Prior to launching Diabetes Insights in 2015, Rem served as Executive Director of the William Sansum Diabetes Center in Santa Barbara, California. He also holds more than 15 years’ experience in diabetes device commercialisation, including insulin pump products. From 2003 to 2013, Rem served in various capacities with Roche Diabetes Care, including Vice President, External Affairs, North America, and Vice President, Insulin Delivery Systems Global Marketing and Reimbursement.
Our advisors
Dr. G. E. M. G. Storms
Dr. G. E. M. G. (Fred) Storms is one of the Netherlands’ leading authorities on the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Medical Director of the Diabetes Care team at St. Antonius Hospital, Utrecht until his retirement in 2016, Dr. Storms holds a special interest in the medical and technical advancements being made to improve diabetes treatment, and, as such, his work has long focussed on encouraging and supporting such advancements. He has participated in multiple international studies, including AT.LANTUS, PROactive, ONTARGET and EMPA-REG, and contributed to several trials of leading insulin pump therapies.
Our investors
INKEF
EQT Life Science
Health Innovations
Partners in Equity
Invest-NL
