Belgian AI Platform Raises $1.1M to Link Wellbeing to Performance

Jan de Vries · 2026-02-10

Here's something that might change how you think about workplace wellness. An HRTech company from Antwerp, Move To Happiness, just closed a $1.1 million funding round. They're not just another meditation app. They're building an AI-driven platform that directly connects how your team feels to how your business performs. Think about it. We've all seen those wellness programs. The fruit baskets, the yoga classes, the mental health days. They're nice, but do they actually move the needle? According to the folks at Move To Happiness, not really. They're tackling a much bigger question: how do we translate human energy, focus, and recovery into real, measurable business results? ### What's the Big Idea? Kenneth Van Daele, the CEO and co-founder, puts it bluntly. "Wellbeing is still too often approached as care or compensation," he says. "But at its core, this is about how people function in complex, high-pressure environments. Their energy, focus, recovery and decision-making capacity now directly determine the performance of teams and organisations." That's the shift. It's not about patching people up after they break. It's about building systems that prevent the break in the first place, and understanding that a thriving employee is a productive one. This new funding will help them refine their AI, get better at spotting performance risks early, and scale their model to more companies. ### A Trend in European HRTech This isn't happening in a vacuum. Move To Happiness is part of a much larger wave of investment in smart HR tools across Europe. Just look at the last couple of years: - London's Zelt raised about $6.3 million in early 2025. - Milan's Skillvue secured roughly $6.1 million later that spring. - In Spain, companies like Orbio and Sesame pulled in millions more for AI-native HR and talent management systems. All told, over $74 million has flowed into these adjacent HRTech spaces recently. While Move To Happiness's raise is smaller, it's perfectly aligned with this massive pivot toward data-driven people management. It's no longer just about tracking hours; it's about optimizing human potential. ### How Does the Platform Actually Work? Founded back in 2021, their goal has always been to make wellbeing measurable. They combine a bunch of data points you might not expect: - Objective data from wearables (think sleep patterns, stress levels, heart rate variability) - Personality and behavioral profiles - Established behavioral science models Then, their AI sorts through all that and creates personalized guidance. It's like having a dedicated coach for sleep, mental load, and energy management, but for your entire workforce. And here's the kicker—while the coaching is personal, the insights for the company are anonymized. Managers get a dashboard view. They can see where energy is consistently draining away in the organization. They can spot which roles are under unsustainable pressure. They can even identify the warning signals that often come right before someone burns out or quits. ### Why It's Getting Traction The stats they shared are pretty telling. Traditional wellbeing initiatives? They often see engagement rates between 20% and 40%. Move To Happiness is reporting active participation between 65% and 90% among their clients, which include major names like Accenture. The problem they're solving is real. Companies are spending more than ever on employee wellbeing, yet burnout, mental fatigue, and lost productivity keep climbing. Kenneth argues the issue isn't intention—it's structure. Most programs are disconnected from the daily grind, don't account for individual differences, and never clearly link back to performance. The result is a lot of activity with very little leverage. This platform tries to bridge that gap. It connects the dots between the individual experience and the organizational outcome. It's a fascinating, and frankly, necessary step forward. Instead of wondering if wellness programs work, we might finally start getting some answers.