Resiterra and InvestSuit on their partnership with M

Running a museum costs money, lots of money. Fortunately, there are companies that support M financially. But why do they do it?

Erik Van Hoof (Director): "Resiterra is a private developer. We look for locations where we can realise buildings and then we get teams of urban planners, architects and engineers busy doing that. They make the design for us. As soon as we have the permits, we start selling - usually to private individuals. We specialise in inner-city projects. In Leuven, we already have a few to our name: the Barbarahof, for example, which used to be the above-ground car park of KBC. Or the Janseniushof, also on the site of an old car park."

Erik Van Hoof, Resiterra, foto: © Sanne Delcroix voor M Leuven

Hertogensite

"The largest project we are currently realising is the Hertogensite, the former hospital campus on Brusselsestraat. There will be residential units, offices, commercial spaces and catering establishments. The city is also developing a performing arts hall, we do a large part of the public part of it. The Dijle was once covered there, but now we are going to reopen it. We are also creating a city park and restoring the remains of the old medieval city walls that run right through the site."

Discovering

"About five years ago, the museum contacted us: M was looking for companies with which they could build a long-term relationship. For our part, we were happy to support the museum here in our city. We see that as part of our entrepreneurship, if I may say so. We contribute to the quality of life in the city by creating housing, and M does so by offering culture. That link is important to us. That is why we also give a one-year subscription to M with every housing unit we deliver. This way, the buyers can immediately start exploring their new surroundings."

"M is really a household name: a museum with an excellent reputation, housed in an unusual building. As a company, we are fully committed to good architecture, so we are happy to put our name to that."

Bart Vanhaeren (founder and CEO): "InvestSuite develops software that allows you to invest on the stock market. We create packages for banks, which they then offer to their customers. You can use it to buy shares, get investment advice, and you are kept up to date with the performance of your portfolio. We use storytelling for this, which is highly unusual in the financial world. We profile ourselves a bit as the Pixar of the sector: their animated films are a mixture of creativity and storytelling, but also of advanced technology. That is what we are looking at.”

"We employ 65 people of 14 nationalities. Our head office is in Leuven, and we have branches in London, Warsaw, Sydney, Madrid and Amsterdam, among other places. We are based at De Hoorn, one of Stella Artois’s old brewery building. When you enter, you see Stella's old machines alongside our modern computers and lots of books. On technology and business management, but also about creativity. I don't think you'll find such a large collection on writing, storytelling, game development... anywhere else in Leuven. We want our interiors to reflect this combination of creativity and technology. Young people tell us they want to come and work here because of the environment."

Dakterras

“Vroeger, toen ik nog bij KBC werkte, had ik al nauwe contacten met M. En toen ik met mijn eigen bedrijf begon, leek het me niet meer dan logisch om die relatie voort te zetten. We mogen dan wel klein zijn, we vinden het belangrijk om deel uit te maken van onze lokale gemeenschap. Een Leuvens monument als M steunen hoort daarbij. Bovendien: we zijn geen typisch softwarebedrijf. We zijn altijd op zoek naar die link tussen technologie en creativiteit. Kunst en literatuur kunnen je helpen om verder te kijken dan het puur technologische. M heeft op zijn domein diezelfde open blik, dus daar associëren we ons graag mee.”

“We krijgen ook iets terug voor onze steun. Onze werknemers en investeerders kunnen we bijvoorbeeld bezoeken aan M aanbieden. En per jaar mogen we een aantal evenementen in de gebouwen van het museum houden. Wegens covid is dat er helaas nog niet van gekomen, maar als het lukt houden we deze zomer ons bedrijfsfeestje op het dakterras van M. Hout vasthouden!