Amsterdam, February 28th 2022 - Three successful Dutch tech entrepreneurs have joined forces to aid those affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Ali Niknam (bunq), Joris Beckers (Picnic) and Robert Vis (MessageBird) have set up a foundation to shelter refugees fleeing the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The People for People foundation was founded today, after bunq received an enormous amount of messages in response to a LinkedIn message that Niknam posted earlier this weekend.
The charitable initiative will help refugees from both Ukraine and Russia and is currently looking into the effectiveness of various support actions it can implement. The foundation is already equipped to temporarily accommodate refugees in hotels and apartments in Bulgaria and Georgia where and when needed. Additionally, People for People is looking into getting them into the Netherlands on a work visa. Large numbers of Dutch people also reached out to the foundation, offering to provide shelter to affected families.
“We received countless responses over the weekend; it's truly heartwarming to see how the most dire situations bring out the best in people. As a result, this initiative has quickly grown far bigger than we anticipated. To maximise its positive impact we joined forces with other Dutch entrepreneurs to establish People for People”, says Niknam.
Former CFO of TransIP Pieter Jan van Krevel will develop and oversee the foundation from his role as director. All those affected or anyone who can provide shelter or wants to support the foundation can contact the organisation through the official website. The previous email address used for the initiative (people@bunq.com) will automatically be redirected.
People for People is a non-profit organisation that provides aid for victims of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The foundation was established in February 2022 by Dutch tech entrepreneurs Ali Niknam (bunq), Joris Beckers (Picnic) and Robert Vis (MessageBird).
Former CFO of TransIP Pieter Jan van Krevel will develop and oversee the foundation from his role as director. All those affected or anyone who can provide shelter or wants to support the foundation can contact the organisation through the official website.
About bunq
Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Ali Niknam, bunq has brought lasting change to the European banking industry. By having its users at the heart of the business and building a product rooted in their wants and needs, bunq quickly scaled to become the second largest neobank in Europe. Serving digital nomads across Europe, bunq makes life easy for location-independent people and businesses starting from the way they manage money: how they spend, save, budget and invest.
Pioneering many things considered impossible, bunq was the first bank to get a European banking permit in over 35 years, raised the largest series A round ever secured by a European fintech (€193 million), and was the first EU neobank to achieve structural profitability at the end of 2022. On its mission to build the first global neobank for digital nomads, in April 2023, bunq announced its bid to enter the US market by applying for a banking license.
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