In 2015, a group of engineers and retail veterans were tired of watching the same thing happen to every global retailer they worked with. So we set out to build the opposite. We called the platform EVA. We called ourselves New Black, because retail was overdue for a new default.
For the customer. Delivering a personalized, consistent experience whether a customer shops in store, online, or anywhere in between.
For the sales floor. Turning store associates into brand ambassadors with real-time customer insights and clienteling tools at their fingertips.
For headquarters. Integrated task management and global fiscal compliance, so headquarters always knows what is happening, everywhere.
Our mission
Retail without the friction. Most global retailers are held back by a Frankenstack, disconnected systems that silo teams and fragment the customer experience. New Black replaces that complexity with a single, unified foundation.
Our story
In 2015, a group of engineers and retail veterans were tired of watching the same thing happen to every global retailer they worked with.
A new POS here. A separate e-commerce platform there. A bolt-on order management tool. A standalone loyalty app. Each system worked. None of them talked to each other. We called it the Frankenstack, and it was strangling the very brands it was supposed to serve.
So we set out to build the opposite.
One platform. One data model. Built cloud-native, API-first, and technology-agnostic from day one. International compliance baked into the foundation, not bolted on later. Designed so retailers could shape the software around their customers, instead of the other way around.
We called the platform EVA. We called ourselves New Black, because retail was overdue for a new default.
The first customers were brave. They believed unified commerce could actually work. Today EVA powers retail in over 45 countries, with deployments of 1,200+ stores going live in under 12 months, and in 2025 it was named Best Seamless Unified Retail solution at the NRF Big Show Europe awards.
How we work
Building software this ambitious takes more than great engineers. It takes a structure that gets out of their way.
That is why New Black operates as a holacracy. Instead of a traditional top-down hierarchy, we organize around autonomous, self-managing teams. Authority is distributed, decisions are made close to the work, and roles are defined by purpose rather than position. No titles to climb, no permission to ask for, no bottlenecks waiting for a manager's sign-off.
Inside the company, we still call ourselves NERDS. Nerd is the New Black, and we mean it. Flat structure, self-managed teams, creative friction welcomed. We are not here to sell another module into someone else's mess. We are here to replace the mess.
Autonomous teams
Teams own their domain end-to-end. No waiting for sign-off, no bottlenecks at the top.
Roles, not titles
Roles are defined by purpose and accountability, not seniority. The smartest person in the room is never held back by the org chart.
Creative friction welcomed
Disagreement is part of the process. We'd rather have the right argument than the polite answer.
Remote-first, Amsterdam-based
Our team spans multiple countries. We work where we work best, and come together when it matters.
CEO
Steven Bakker
CIO
Lub ten Napel
CTO
Mark Gerrits
CPO
Leni Hakvoort
CCO
Pim Vijftigschild
Head of Customer Success
Stuart Frelick
Head of Support
Jaap Bakker
Head of Knowledge
Albert Visser
Head of Legal
Sharon Tan
Our team will reach out shortly to schedule a call. In the meantime, feel free to explore our latest retail insights.
In this session, we’ll show how EVA helps enterprise retailers keep inventory accurate, fulfill faster, and deliver consistent customer experiences online and in-store.
