Driven by a strong belief that companies need to place consumers first, Andre Hesselink has made it his business and sole mission to help consumers, by disrupting traditionally organised industries, and revolutionise the way they are structured. After getting a taste for entrepreneurship at the age of 23 and learning the nuances of running his own business, Hesselink has spent his career identifying and solving business and consumer challenges across different sectors always by deploying the latest available technology.
Originally from the Netherlands, Hesselink’s initial success came by way of the travel and aviation industry, when he became one of the pioneers in the online travel business, setting up the 1st online travel agency,Vliegwinkel.nl, in 1995 in The Netherlands. Further success came by way of setting up several online companies like Vayama, Budgetair and Cheaptickets in several European countries and the US. In 2011 Hesselink moved from Sillicon Valley to Singapore to lead the companies expansion path into Asia.
During his years in Singapore Hesselink encountered many hurdles when trying to purchase a car insurance plan online. Always keen to find a solution, Hesselink conceived the idea of a totally transparent online search platform to compare insurance and other financial products, which led to the launch of GoBear in 2015.