About us
Creating technology for training providers that helps people learn
That’s what we work on every day. Ready our story here:
Our history
While attending university, Martèn was always looking for ways to learn smarter. See, the thing is that Martèn is dyslexic and without ways to make learning more effective for him, obtaining his masters in Business Economics was a challenge. A college friend, who was also dyslexic, came up with the MemoTrainer (The MemoTrainer is based on the ‘forgetting curve’ published by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885). At the time, Martèn was a business advisor at Accenture but immediately got excited to help make this idea a success.
As soon as René obtained his Commercial Engineering degree, he started a training company that focused on RSI prevention and taught computer skills. During the training, Rene noticed that homework was often not done. As a result, he wasn’t able to cover the study material in the way he wanted.
René decided to send his students a short email every couple of days. The emails included small bits of training content. This new way of working did well, but it wasn’t a scalable solution. The solution was to build software that could do this automatically. This software turned out to be much like MemoTrainer.
When René met Martèn, they decided to collaborate to create a learning platform on the basis of MemoTrainer. Thus was born aNewSpring: the learning platform for training providers.

Martèn de Prez en René Persoon
Owners /directors
Owners /directors
2003
Takeoff
400+
customers
1,000,000+
People have
used our platform

Member of the Dutch Council
for Training

Accredited by the Learning &
Performance Instituut

aNewSpring is
ISO 2700 certified (more information)
Our team
All crazy about learning!

Our focus
Training providers need a platform that allows their students to learn smarter and perform better. That’s what is top of mind when we develop our platform; in other words, developing technology that really helps people learn. We also want to offer our customers inspiration by organising events such as the aNewSpring Customer Day and the annual Inspiring Learning Journey Awards. The icing on the cake comes from our colleague, Ger Driesen, who helps the L&D community with his bi-weekly ‘Learning Notes’.
Our ideal customer(s)
Our customers use the aNewSpring learning platform in many different ways. Also, there are many different types of users too. Yet, there are things they all have in common. Here’s a ‘checklist’ to see if we’re made for each other:
- You want to innovate and stay up to date.
- You like the feeling that you’re not going it alone.
- You want to achieve results, quickly, and don’t mind working hard for it.
- You can appreciate some humor every now and then.
- You like adventure (and cake).
- You believe that everything should be focused on the learner, including the learning platform.
- You want to specifically address a problem through training.
- You are able to build content yourself or you use external help for this.
- You want to continuously create new training products and release them on the market.

Our office

After 10 years at Lloyds Quarter, we’ve moved to the heart of Rotterdam in 2017. The office includes a 360° view of the city.
Meet our team
- Aleksandar MitrevDeveloper
I enjoy the everyday challenges that the development profession brings: keeping up to date with the latest technologies and learning how to use them. Being able to work at aNewSpring and contribute to the learning process of millions of learners in many different fields, that’s what I find exciting.
- Ben SedeeDeveloper
Working at aNewSpring gives me the opportunity to help people learn, no matter where they are, by providing the latest technology. The ever-changing digital landscape our clients move in help me to keep myself up-to-date on the latest techniques and innovations. Basically, it’s a win-win
- Brant SeethalerCommercial Director
I love people. It sounds silly like that, but I am really fascinated by what drives others. Whether it’s the members of our team, or the customers we serve, or even just the guy at the bus stop. Remaining inquisitive and open to how others see the world drives me to learn more everyday.
- Corjan BastContent Hero
As soon as we are born into this world, we start learning. It’s my mission to never stop doing this and so far it’s been working. I certainly hope that the phrase “Most people believe that when they grow older, they become wiser. But they just become older.”, doesn’t apply to me!
- David ScholtenDesigner
There’s nothing better than doing what you love and having the opportunity to work with amazing people. That’s exactly what aNewSpring provides for me: a place to learn and to be part of something. Together, we work on a future that’s all about learning and it’s incredibly exciting.
- Ellen BreedveldWordsmith
Learning is essential to our everyday lives. Our personal growth, relationships, and professional development are all dependant on how open we are to new ideas. We should, however, also take the time to assess what we discover. Repeating the things you do can make you the master of it.
- Ger DriesenLearning Innovation Leader
I’ve been active in learning throughout my whole professional life: as a training adviser, trainer, training & development manager, entrepreneur, writer and speaker. Working in learning is beautiful and something that really matters. I will keep doing this kind of work for years to come.
- Govert de JongCustomer Success Manager
I experience life as a learning process. I try to take everything in and love to learn from others. My fascination for nature and other cultures stimulates me to look at the world from a different point of view. All aNewSpring users are very different from each other, and I learn something new from them every day. I really get a kick out of helping them create interesting learning journeys.
- Janna de ValkDesign stagiair
Recently I came across the quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” and that is the reason I always want to continue learning. Because learning is discovering and gaining experience, besides the fact that it is just fun, you will also become a little wiser every time. Here at aNewSpring I am working to make learning more fun and easier for everyone, my goal is that everyone wants to continue learning!
- Jimmy ChimDesigner
The fun part of working at aNewSpring is that I can practice my hobbies. As a child, I was constantly drawing and I always chose to read comic books above regular books. That’s also how I moved my passion to the digital world. I used to draw on a sheet of paper, but now I can draw on an infinite piece of canvas. This means: more creativity, more fun and of course more learning opportunities!!
- Karlijn van den BoschAccount executive
Due to my curiosity for smart, modern ways of learning and developing, aNewSpring is the right place for me. As I challenge myself to continue to learn and innovate, I also like to challenge the client to create the most inspirational learning journey to make learning effective.
- Katalin Boer-SorbanDeveloper
When I was a child I always liked helping others with learning. During my job as a teacher in Computer Science, I aspired to make the learning materials as interesting and tangible as possible.
What I like best about working at aNewSpring is that we make this happen on a larger scale. We can make learning more easy for thousands of learners by offering teachers a platform in which they can present learning materials in an attractive way. I am happy to contribute to that! - Martèn de PrezOwner/Managing Director
I love it when our team and our clients act as one, innovating learning to really helping people learn more effective. Gandhi once said: Learn like you will live forever. I like to live by that thought even though I do have a challenge in learning being dyslectic. For me studying was an uphill battle. Therefore I’m extra motivated to be a part of the innovation of learning.
- Michel van HeijningenDeveloper
Acquiring knowledge and learning new skills is to me something that never stops. It’s more than just reading and being a knowledge consumer. It’s actively searching out new experiences and finding new sources of knowledge. During my Learning Journey, I was fortunate to be able to learn a lot of things on my own as well as obtaining degrees in Biology and Philosophy. I have experienced myself that the advent of new technologies really gives people the chance to learn new skills at every stage of their life. I am very happy that aNewSpring offers me the opportunity to contribute to a platform that helps people to acquire and share knowledge.
- MickeyChief Happiness Officer
As the youngest member of the aNewSpring team, my goal is to give extra attention to everybody who needs it. I am always filled with joy when you walk into our office and if the time is right, you can expect a big hug, too. I just finished my puppy training, so there’s still a lot to learn.
- Natasja FragosoFinance Manager
At aNewSpring I can combine my love for learning with an interest in legislation and a talent for numbers. The world of HR and Finance is constantly subject to changing regulations and new trends of which I must stay informed. One of our core values translates roughly as Owning your Expertise and I manage this by routinely reading specialist journals, by attending workshops and lectures quite frequently and, if necessary, by consulting experts. A job with many learning moments!
- Nick SnoekMarketing Analyst
It hasn’t been so long ago since I left school, but that doesn’t mean I am done with learning. I believe you can learn something from everyone, as long as you’re open for it. Sharing knowledge is very important to me and I’m glad to work in an environment where that is important as well.
- Patricia van der HaveNew Business Developer
The thing I like the most about my job as a Business Developer, is that I have daily conversations with people who have refreshing ideas about learning. This allows me to learn a lot about what’s going in different types of branches. This gives me a great energy boost!
- Paul van HelmondCustomer Success Manager
Making others successful, that’s what motivates me every day. I used to do that as sales manager, but now I help our clients implementing our application and building great, successful training products. If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. I learn by experiencing and am determined to experience a lot more in the future.
- René PersoonOwner/Founder
There are three things I love to do most: Entrepreneuring, travelling and cooking a great meal. I always need to keep improving myself on these topics, find my boundaries and learn from my mistakes. When I was a trainer I was searching for ways to make sure my students would not forget what I taught them. Because I could not find a solution that suited my business I started aNewSpring.
- Stefan van den TolCCO - Chief Customer Officer
I really like working in an energetic and positive environment. Everyone here feels responsible for the product and likes problem solving. It is my goal to let our clients know that and helping them the most effective way possible. This, and having a laugh with my colleagues every now and then makes this the perfect job for me.
- Thijs van ZundertAccount Executive
Being an Account Executive at aNewSpring, I look for a match with training providers. We really like it to do business when we can actually help a client, or even add value to their organization. That’s what makes me happy. You wouldn’t sell shoes to someone without feet, would you?
The most important thing at aNewSpring is the clients’ client, so the learner. If learners are successful, we are successful. In my opinion that is a beautiful philosophy, and I love to contribute to that every day! - Tim BouwensMarketing Intern
I’ve always had a lot of interest in marketing and innovation. After years of learning about the theory of marketing, I want to apply my knowledge. I’m glad I can do so at aNewSpring by writing my graduation thesis.
- Yvo van HeijningenVP of Engineering
You may call me a fan of learning – I’ve studied for 11 years! Not because I was bad at it, but because I really wanted to learn a lot. This resulted in a variety of diplomas, from a Master in Music to Biomedical Sciences and Electrical Engineering. I love learning.