Bas van Abel is an entrepreneur, designer, and technologist with over 20 years of experience in social innovation. He is passionate about transforming the economic system through a design-led approach and believes companies play a vital role in the transition toward a more sustainable economy.
Before founding his own ventures, Bas spent ten years working as creative director at Waag, a media lab where designers, artists, and scientists apply public research methods to technology and society. At Waag, he supported both profit and non-profit organizations with their innovation challenges, established the Amsterdam Fablab—a public mini-factory—and launched the world’s first open-source restaurant. He is also co-author of Open Design Now.
Bas van Abel as a Speaker
As a designer, Bas explores the invisible systems behind our production processes, surfaces the problems, and demonstrates through his ventures that alternative approaches are possible. He is an experienced speaker who inspires audiences while providing practical examples and tools for implementing sustainability. Bas delivers guest lectures on sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship at renowned institutions such as Nyenrode, ESADE, and Cambridge, and advises companies on their sustainability transitions.
His combined experience as an entrepreneur with his creative and technical expertise allows him to present engaging talks grounded in real-world experience. He can dive into topics including entrepreneurship, brand development, product design, sustainability, and supply chain management. His insights are both inspiring and practical for organizations pursuing innovative approaches to sustainability.
Fairphone
Bas is the founder of Fairphone, the successful sustainable smartphone company. As CEO, he spent nearly a decade building the company into an international player in the highly competitive mobile phone market. Fairphone’s success is rooted in its design approach, which prioritizes people and the planet in material sourcing, design, and manufacturing. Under Bas’ leadership, Fairphone raised €20 million through crowdfunding, became Europe’s fastest-growing tech startup, and was recognized by Greenpeace as the world’s most sustainable consumer electronics company.
De Clique
In 2019, Bas co-founded De Clique, a social enterprise focused on reusing organic waste such as coffee grounds, peels, and food scraps. The company collects waste streams from businesses, supermarkets, and restaurants, developing products such as bread, soap, beer, meat alternatives, animal feed, and compost in collaboration with partners. De Clique sells the finished products back to customers and raised investment through a steward-ownership model, issuing only non-voting shares with a capped profit, ensuring the company remains mission-driven. It is one of the first Dutch companies to implement this structure successfully.
Awards and Recognition
Bas van Abel and his ventures have received numerous national and international awards, including the Dutch Coolest Dutch Brand 2020, the UN Momentum for Change Award, and the German Greentech Award. Personally, Bas has been recognized for his work at Fairphone with the prestigious German Umweltpreis (2016), the Global Economy Prize (shared with Klaus Schwab and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller), and the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the World Economic Forum. He remains involved with Fairphone as a non-executive board member.
