Obituary: Nebu Founder Fred Broers

Fred Broers co-founder of Netherlands-based data collection software developer Nebu, died last Wednesday, 24 April at the age of 74.

Broers (pictured) was born in The Hague in 1944, during World War II. Three years later, his parents moved to Indonesia, where his father had been born and raised. However, during their eventful stay in the country, his parents were kidnapped and the family robbed three times, so they returned to the Netherlands in 1954.

Following his early education at the Anthony Fokker School, Broers worked for publishing company Staatsdrukkerij, but was then accepted to study graphics at the Academy of Visual Arts, before entering the world of advertising. He later spent sixteen years at chocolate manufacturer Droste, where he set up an entire sales network in Germany for the Cheese Union, before moving to dairy company Menken van Grieken.

After several years in the dairy industry, and a brief stint at a dashboarding company, Broers set up Nebu (taking the name as a tribute to the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom), and in 1992 Broers was joined by computer scientist Eric van Velzen. Known by clients as 'the salesman and the techie', Broers and van Velzen initially focussed on selling support applications, and then began developing market research technology. According to van Velzen, Broers soon became a well-known figure in the market research industry, loved by many.

In 2010, Broers left the company to set up a new business, bringing energy production and advertising together. During this time, he also coached several entrepreneurs and ran a local store, until at the end of 2014, Broers had a brain haemorrhage, which he eventually recovered from, after a long period of rehabilitation. Later on, he had more health complications, but van Velzen says that Broers never lost his fighting spirit and smile.

Tariq Mirza, former Nebu colleague and recent founder of SampleNinja, commented: 'I worked very closely with Fred from 2002-2007 and we had a fantastic time and great working relationship. He taught me lots about sales, relationships, negotiation and respecting others and they were truly good times. He was completely open to new ideas and as a group we grew from eight to 25 by the time I left Nebu. We always travelled happy. Not only was he successful, he was incredibly funny always cracking cheeky jokes and making fun. He really had the ability to laugh at himself and put people at ease,'

Broers leaves behind his wife Marja, who he married in 1968, daughter Myrthe, son-in-law Bo and granddaughter Jools.

More tributes to Fred Broers can be found at: www.nebu.com/Fred .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.