On February 5th, 2026, we hosted the very first Chift Connect Brussels at Comet Louise (next to Place Stéphanie), and what a night is was.
With 50 companies registered, the room was packed with founders, CEOs, CTOs, and Product & Partnerships leaders from fintech, accounting tech, banking, and B2B SaaS. The energy was exactly what we hoped for: high-quality conversations, relaxed networking, and real connections. The kind that turn software partnerships into long-term collaboration.
Why this topic mattered (and the room proved it)
2026 is already shaping up to be a defining year for our ecosystem, and Belgium’s e-invoicing rollout (that started in January 2026) is a big reason why. It’s not “just” a compliance change, it’s a structural shift that impacts:
- how software vendors design product experiences,
- how accounting workflows get automated,
- and how banks and fintechs rethink data, onboarding, and operations.
The best signal? Attendance was strong, attention stayed high, and the Q&A was sharp and engaged. People came with real use cases, real constraints, and a clear desire to learn from peers who are building in the middle of it.
A big thank you to our speakers
We were lucky to kick off the evening with Steven Noels, founder of PeppolCheck.be, who shared a grounded view of Belgium’s Peppol rollout: lessons learned, practical insights, and a few war stories that definitely resonated.
Then came our panel: “How e-invoicing is changing the software and banking industries”, moderated by Gauthier Henroz (CEO, Chift), with:
- Kalina Lipinska, VP Product at Teamleader Focus
- Bryan Steyns, CTO & Co-founder at Horus Software
- Luka Caratsch, CRO at Swan
The audience feedback was great both during and after the talks. The panelists definitely brought the kind of experience you can’t get from a slide deck.
Networking, the way it should be
From 19:30 to 22:30, we switched to apéro mode, and this is where the magic happens. We heard the same words again and again: “great crowd”, “relevant people”, “super relaxed atmosphere”. That’s exactly the point of Chift Connect.
Because yes, integrations are technical, but partnerships are human.
Thank you ❤️
To everyone who joined us: thank you for showing up, sharing openly, and making this first Brussels edition such a success. We’re genuinely humbled by the positive feedback, and it’s a strong signal that Belgium’s ecosystem is ready for more evenings like this.
See you at the next Chift Connect.
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