Shiftbase was built to take the scheduling-, time tracking-, and time-off chaos out of shift-based work.
Shiftbase didn't start with a business plan. It started with our CEO Jurrien Strobel's hours never adding up across multiple hospitality jobs. Everything was tracked by hand, transferred wrong, and schedules constantly fell apart.
Three years later, he built the fix with Kars Frijters (CTO): a platform that replaced the chaos with clarity. Today, Shiftbase helps thousands of organizations run their shift-based teams efficiently. With less admin and more focus on people and customers.
Don't just take our word for it. Customers across Europe are already seeing the results.
"We used to spend two hours per week per location on schedules. Now it takes 30 minutes."
"Shiftbase is a tool everyone should have. It gives you insights you'd never get from written schedules or even Excel."
If you've worked in hospitality, you know the drill: hours that don't add up, shifts scribbled on beer mats, payslips that raise more questions than answers. That chaos is where Shiftbase started.
Three years after Jurrien built the first version for Ristorante Novecento in Haarlem, he and Kars decided it was time to go bigger. The plan? A workforce management solution that could work for every restaurant in the Netherlands.
Jurrien and Kars spent a year coding in the evenings and weekends, both holding down day jobs. They launched at the Horecava trade show under the name Horecasysteem—a digital scheduling and time tracking system that actually did what it promised. The pitch worked. They left the show with dozens of paying customers.
The first major clients came on board. That trust felt different. These businesses got closely involved in shaping the platform's development - a collaborative approach that became one of Shiftbase's core principles.
Kars and Jurrien quit their day jobs and go all-in. With their first employee Tim, they lay the groundwork for a clean, focused product. The phrase "gas is alles" (roughly: pedal to the metal) becomes a regular refrain around the office - capturing the pragmatic, action-first mentality that still defines Shiftbase today.
The product finally feels mature—time to scale. A Dutch sales team gets built (Olivier, Tom, and Thomas), and opportunities emerge beyond hospitality in other shift-based sectors. The rebrand to Shiftbase follows: broader, sharper, and clear about what's next.
Shiftbase is growing fast and thinking bigger. Shift-based businesses outside the Netherlands face the same scheduling and time tracking headaches. Germany becomes the next market - a real test that quickly teaches Jurrien and Kars the critical differences between the two markets.
Much of the customer base struggled through lockdowns. Shiftbase's growth stayed stable. Investment went into strengthening the sales team, bringing on partner managers for better integrations, and ramping up online visibility.
Shiftbase expands to a 60-person team. The management layer grows too - Frédéric and Ivo join to lead specific domains. The shift from founders-doing-everything to specialists-leading-their-areas begins. Maturing without losing the startup drive.
With a clearer vision, Shiftbase pushes development in targeted directions - features that actually move the needle for business owners. The first add-ons launch, including Insights+, a module giving real-time visibility into revenue and labor costs. A full HR module starts taking shape too. Research shows many businesses haven't properly structured their HR processes. That's exactly where Shiftbase can make a difference.
Scheduling that makes sense. Time tracking that just works. 100% designed for deskless teams.
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