Jelle Engels of InSpace joined the Lotgenoten Podcast. In episode #568, “Dit is hoe jij een miljoenenbedrijf opstart in minder dan 2 jaar (ik deed het in 15 maanden)”, he tells how InSpace grew into a multi-million euro company in fifteen months, and why he is convinced the classic search bar is on its way out. The episode is in Dutch.
From selling hours to software
Jelle deliberately chose software over the classic hourly billing of an agency. Together with co-founders Martijn (CEO) and Wouter (CTO) he started completely from scratch: from zero, without a team. He calls himself not the director but the dreamer of the three.
Nova: SEO and GEO fully automated
InSpace’s product, Nova, automates the full execution of SEO and GEO strategy. It analyses competitors, defines a content strategy that fits the company’s vision and creates the content. Fully autonomous, but with a human nearby: every client keeps a customer success manager. Cheap tools that promise a hundred blogs miss the point, according to Jelle, because it is all about strategy.
From 7 to nearly 500 clients in 28 countries
In September 2025 InSpace had 7 clients. By now there are nearly 500, spread across 28 countries, with a team of 55 people. Last month Nova created 4,000 pages for clients. Ten months after the start, in December 2024, the company raised at a valuation of 25 million euros; since then it has grown three times as fast.
The end of the search bar
Google announced it will replace the search bar with a conversational partner after 25 years. That is exactly why InSpace builds visibility in classic search engines and in AI models alike. Jelle’s philosophy: create your own asset instead of renting attention from Google or Meta.
Silver at the European Search Awards
InSpace won silver at the European Search Awards 2026 and now has at least fifty successful client cases. The ambition remains big: the SEO and GEO market is growing towards 300 billion by 2030, and the mission is to become a unicorn. They will not settle for less.
