Blender

Blender was born from the conviction and drive of a passionate entrepreneur and self-taught software developer, Ton Roosendaal. In the 1990s, Roosendaal developed software for 3D computers. When an investment fund stepped in, things took off. Within a few years, nothing was left of his promising company, and the software written by Roosendaal lay gathering dust in a drawer. Using crowdsourcing, he bought the software back from the investors with only one goal in mind: to make the software open source available. It is the beginning of the Blender Foundation, a non-profit foundation with a mission: the freedom to create.

Blender’s disruptive attitude is appreciated worldwide. The company generates income through partnerships with parties such as Intel, and through training and donations. But money is by no means the holy grail, just a means to an end. That passion to make sure every creative person should be able to use Blender software is one of the main common denominators of the company’s nearly 25 employees. From its headquarters in Amsterdam-Noord, the team – still led by Ton Roosendaal – is dedicated to continuously improving the software and the organisation.