You didn't know these companies were Dutch

The Netherlands is home to many family businesses that regularly achieve international success and gain worldwide recognition.

The Netherlands has many (family) businesses that regularly achieve international success and gain worldwide fame. You probably didn't know that these companies originated in the Netherlands. Text: Patrick Stoffer

The Inner Circle

Left, right, right, left, right. And so on. We've all been there: swiping on a dating app in the hope of meeting the right one. In addition to Tinder, The Inner Circle is the country's most popular dating app, which was founded in 2012 by David Vermeulen and Michael Krayenhof in Amsterdam. In 2022, the app has around 3 million users worldwide: from Hong Kong to Los Angeles and Barcelona to Sydney.

G star

The clothing brand G-Star can be found in many stores internationally and also has its roots in the Netherlands. The label was founded in Amsterdam in 1989 under the name Gap-Star, but later changed its name to G-Star to focus more on the international market. American singer Pharell Williams even became co-owner of the brand in 2016. G-Star knows how to attract well-known faces, such as rap artist Snoop Dogg and Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.

Booking.com

Are you going on holiday this summer and booking accommodation? There is a good chance that you will do this via Booking.com. The billion-dollar company's service is used all over the world and they are real pioneers in this field. The company from Enschede was founded in 1996 by Geert-Jan Bruinsma, a student at the University of Twente, under the name Bookings.nl. In the beginning, stays could only be booked in the Netherlands, but when the website started to grow, the international offering increased significantly. The website is now available in 43 languages ​​and offers more than 28 million listings.

Shell

The company, now known as Shell plc, is one of the six largest state-independent oil companies in the world. Perhaps a no-brainer, but one with a small caveat. Royal Dutch Shell, as the oil company was called until January 2022, already suggests where the company's roots lie. However, it is a bit more complex. Officially the roots are in Indonesia, which was a Dutch colony at the time. In 1890, a group of Dutch businessmen in the Dutch East Indies founded the Royal Dutch Company for the Exploitation of Petroleum Resources. A difficult start led to a partnership with the British company Shell Transport & Trading Company. In 1907 the companies officially merged and 60% of the shares are held by the Dutch branch.