Stefan Berg

Stefan van den Berg is a Dutch fintech entrepreneur best known as the founder of AfterPay, one of Europe's pioneering "buy now, pay later" (pay-after-delivery) services. The company's story began in 2010, when Van den Berg was working at Lacent, the financial sister company of Wehkamp, and led a management buy-out to spin AfterPay out as an independent business. From a starting team of four, AfterPay grew into a significant player in online post-payment, employing roughly 150 people internationally (with 80+ in the Netherlands). He holds an MSc in Business/Managerial Economics from the University of Groningen.

In 2014, Van den Berg sold AfterPay to Arvato (Bertelsmann), and on 1 February 2017 he handed over day-to-day leadership of the company, with Pascal Vincken succeeding him as CEO. He has been candid in interviews that he draws far more energy from early-stage startups than from running a mature, scaled organization — which set the stage for his second act as an angel investor and serial operator.

Since leaving AfterPay, Van den Berg has built a portfolio of operating and advisory roles. He is Managing Director of Guapa BV (an e-commerce holding), a board member at ePayLater (the Indian "AfterPay-style" BNPL company he backed), and a co-investor and co-CEO at Valyuu, a Rotterdam-founded circular-economy marketplace for second-hand and refurbished tech. He also advises Orderchamp, the B2B wholesale marketplace he backed in 2020.

• Invests primarily as an angel/pre-seed backer, typically alongside other operator-investors and founders rather than as a lone check.
• Strong affinity for e-commerce, marketplaces, payments/fintech and the circular economy — sectors adjacent to the BNPL and online-retail world he built AfterPay in.
• Backs founder-led, mission-driven companies and often stays involved operationally (board seats, advisory roles, even co-CEO) rather than purely passive capital.
• Leans into the circular / sustainability thesis: as quoted around Valyuu, *"Circular commerce is no longer a buzzword for a small group of people — it's becoming the norm."*
• Willing to double down on winners — e.g., he first invested in Orderchamp in 2020 and increased his stake in the 2021 priced round.