CEO | Persuasive

Company stage: Pre-Commercial start-up (Diagnostics/IVD)


Location: Hybrid with regular travel to Utrecht

Travel: The role requires travel for investor roadshows, pitch events, and partner meetings across Europe, with US-facing engagement as the go-to-market develops.

Compensation: This role starts as a fractional engagement (about 2 days per week) for a founder-minded leader who understands the risk and reward profile of early-stage company building. Compensation is weighted toward equity and performance-linked milestones, with a modest cash component available in line with the current funding position. Cash scales materially upon close of the next financing round. Equity mechanism and structure to be confirmed. 

About the Company

Persuasive BV is a Netherlands-based medical diagnostics company spun out of NLC and built on technology licensed from Utrecht University Hospital. We develop technology that isolates and measures diagnostic particles directly from blood, addressing a gap in current chest pain diagnostics where speed and accuracy of testing remain a critical clinical bottleneck.

After seven years of development, the technology is entering its final stage, with large-scale verification and validation planned over the next one to two years alongside preparation for launch as a testing service in the Netherlands. The business case is strong with limited direct competition in the space.

Purpose of the Role

We are seeking a hands-on CEO to lead the company through its next phase of final development and first commercialization. This role was created as the founding CEO transitions to a dedicated CTO position, taking full ownership of technology, IP, and regulatory matters. The incoming CEO focuses exclusively on commercial strategy, investor relations, and go-to-market execution.

The business case is strong with limited / no competition. The technology is entering the final development stage. Large-scale verification and validation will be done in the next 1-2 years while preparing for launching as a testing service in NL in parallel. 

The CEO’s role is to convert this foundation into a commercially sustainable business model, refine it for future scaling, and lead the company toward international expansion and long-term strategic relevance.

This is a CEO role requiring commercial strategy development and fundraising.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, the CEO will:

• Select a business model from the available options and build a credible go-to-market plan for Europe, with potential US expansion

• Align shareholders and position the company for strategic partnerships and growth

• Sharpen commercial focus, pricing, positioning, and marketing

• Work alongside the CTO

• Strengthen and professionalise PERSUASIVE’s proposition for pitching to investors

• Fully dedicated to fundraising activities

Key Responsibilities:

• Evaluate available business model options, select the most commercially viable path, and develop a 12 to 24-month execution plan covering go-to-market, pricing, and positioning for the European market with a view to US expansion.

• Secure €1 to 2M in the next funding round through active outreach to angels, corporate VCs, and strategic partners, building a credible financial narrative around the verification and validation timeline and commercialization milestones.

• Represent PERSUASIVE externally with clinicians, strategic partners, and investors, while preparing the company for first commercialization in Europe, including US expansion.

• Drive fundraising efforts by actively engaging with suitable investors and leveraging technical and commercial acumen

• Identify and remove barriers to adoption by spending time with customers to understand clinical applications, key stakeholders, hospital budgeting, workflows, training, and usage challenges, and translating these insights into action.

• Lead and refocus a small team on execution by setting clear priorities, ownership, and accountability, and eliminating non-essential activity.

Requirements

• Demonstrated success raising from angels, corporate VCs, and grant or foundation sources in medtech or IVD, with an existing warm investor network in the Netherlands, Belgium, or Germany; a strong differentiator.

• Senior leadership experience in In-Vitro-Diagnostics / biomarker detection technology / clinical laboratory, ideally in a start-up/scale-up environment

• Experience shaping go-to-market strategies, pricing, and commercial models for innovative medical products

• Experience and network in the Cardiology / Cardiovascular space preferred

• Comfortable operating in a small, fast-moving organization where the CEO leads from the front

• Experience working across European markets; exposure to the US market is a strong plus

• Strong commercial judgment, resilience, and decisiveness, combined with a genuine motivation to improve outcomes for chest pain patients

NLC Health Ventures is a leading healthtech and biotech innovation platform based in Amsterdam, combining venture building and fund management across Europe and North America. With 40-45 employees, NLC manages four captive funds investing in ventures from pre-seed to Series B-C, and is fundraising for a fifth fund. The funds have a diverse LP base and are invested in over 70 companies. NLC values a collaborative, open, and impact-driven culture, where team members’ ideas and contributions truly matter.