# Felix Van de Maele

> Belgian entrepreneur Felix Van de Maele co-founded Collibra in 2008 following semantic-technology research at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Based in New York, he leads the company’s global strategy, connecting its early work on shared data definitions with governance for enterprise data and AI.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Collibra
- **Organizations:** Collibra, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- **Nationality:** Belgian
- **Education:** Applied computer science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Master’s in Software Engineering (international program), École des Mines de Nantes and Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Master’s in General Management, Vlerick Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded Collibra in 2008 and remained CEO through its expansion from Belgium to a global business., EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, New York, 2019., Vlerick Enterprising Leader Award, 2021.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Completed software engineering studies after time in France and Argentina; conducted semantic-technology research at VUB.
- **2008** — Co-founded Collibra as a VUB spin-off.
- **2012** — Collibra raised approximately €1 million and explored the US market.
- **2015** — Moved to New York following an Index-led Series B.
- **2019** — Collibra became Belgium’s first unicorn; received EY’s New York Technology Entrepreneur of the Year recognition.
- **2021** — Won the Vlerick Enterprising Leader Award; Collibra announced a $250 million Series G at a $5.25 billion valuation.
- **2026** — Led Collibra as it announced AI Command Center and acquired trail ML.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Collibra in 2008 and remained CEO through its expansion from Belgium to a global business.
- EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, New York, 2019.
- Vlerick Enterprising Leader Award, 2021.
- Led Collibra when it raised $250 million at a $5.25 billion valuation in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — On October 5, Collibra announced its acquisition of Munich-based AI governance company trail ML.
- **2026-09** — Discussed runtime governance and AI agents at GraphSummit in an interview with theCUBE, published September 25.
- **2026-09** — Published a September 4 guest article on why context-dependent data governance belongs at the point of use.
- **2026-05** — Collibra announced AI Command Center on May 6.

## Links

- Website: https://www.collibra.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fvdmaele
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/fvdmaele

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/felix-van-de-maele
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21