SafeSize, the innovative retail tech company that is helping people find the perfect fitting shoes in physical and online stores, is continuing to invest substantially in growing key markets with the appointment of three senior members to its sales and operations team.
Bote Galema joins as Strategic Account Director Northern Europe, Roel van der Wielen as Strategic Account Director APAC and Bjoern Schirmeister as Head of Sales DACH.
These strategic appointments follow SafeSize’s recent €14M series B funding round and the company’s stated commitment to rapidly expand its global business to meet the rising demand for its innovative 3D Foot Scanning & Shoe Recommendation solution that is already adopted by leading sports and footwear retailers such as INTERSPORT, Sports Direct, HOKA, Marks & Spencer in 50 countries around the world.
To complement the already strong sales & operations team led by Tasos Karavalakis, Strategic Account Director EMEA, at a pivotal moment in the company’s growth and transformation journey, Bote Galema joins as Strategic Account Director responsible for driving business growth and customer success in the Northern Europe market. With over 17 years of experience in the retail industry, Bote has held various senior Sales & Retail Operations roles in international sporting goods companies such as Sports Unlimited and Perry Sport in the Netherlands. He has been one of the first customers of SafeSize and an early adopter of the SafeSize 3D Foot Scanning and Shoe Recommendation solution.
Passionate about scaling innovative businesses and taking them to new heights of success is Roel van der Wielen, Strategic Account Director for the APAC region with main focus to expand the SafeSize business in Greater China. Roel joins from Suitsupply where he spent 10 years in a number of retail and sales roles culminating in being appointed Retail Director China in 2015. He has been living in China for the past 8 years and has gained great insight in the local market dynamics.
With focus on driving business growth, strengthening SafeSize’s position as market leader and being closer to the company’s footwear customers in the DACH market, Bjoern Schirrmeister joins as Head of Sales DACH. Bjoern has over 20 years’ experience in retail industry. He has worked for some of the world’s most iconic sports retailers and outdoor brands including INTERSPORT, KarstadtSport, Nike, Puma, Jack Wolfskin and Mammut where he served as Country Manager for the past five years.
Bote, Roel and Bjorn will be reporting to Martin Kempkes, SafeSize Chief Commercial Officer who joined the company’s executive leadership team in April 2023.
