From Unpaid CFO Beginnings to Leading Finance at an AI Robotics Company: Bas Lustenhouwer's Career Path

When Bas Lustenhouwer applied early in his career for a CFO position at a startup, he was told he lacked a key qualification: CFO experience.

For a young investment banker aspiring to a CFO role, this was a classic catch-22 dilemma. Rather than waiting for the right opportunity to arise, Lustenhouwer chose an unconventional path—he proactively offered to serve as an unpaid CFO for startups to gain the experience he lacked on his resume.

This decision defined the next phase of his career: moving from investment banking in Europe into early-stage startups, eventually becoming CFO of Dexory—an AI robotics company expanding into global markets.

This phase of his career comes at a time when financial leaders face a more challenging operating environment. Economic uncertainty, shifting trade policies, regulatory evolution, and rapid advances in AI are forcing companies to make decisions faster, with more far-reaching financial implications.

For a CFO whose career has been built on taking on new risks and challenges, such an environment is not unfamiliar.

Breaking into startup finance

Lustenhouwer's career began at Dutch financial services firm Kempen & Co., where he worked in corporate finance and equity capital markets, before joining Tokyo-based Nomura as an investment banking associate.

After three years at Nomura, he took several months off to backpack through South America. Upon returning to Europe, he began exploring opportunities in startups.

"I had several friends who were starting companies, and hearing their war stories was very exciting," he said.

He had applied for a CFO position at a Dutch fitness startup but was told he lacked direct CFO experience.

"So I thought, this becomes a chicken-and-egg problem," he said. "How do I solve this?"

His answer was unusual: he offered to serve as an interim CFO for startups on a pro bono basis to gain hands-on experience. In this capacity, he supported three early-stage companies.

One of them was Nivoda, a B2B diamond trading platform, which became his entry point into full-time startup leadership. After helping the company complete its seed round, he was invited to join full-time as CFO.

Lustenhouwer spent more than six years at Nivoda, helping the company grow from its early stages through multiple funding rounds, ultimately raising over $100 million in total. By the time he left, the company had more than 500 employees globally and served approximately 10,000 jewelers across over 65 countries, according to him.

But the role went far beyond finance. He frequently delved into operations, logistics, and customer fulfillment.

In one example during his time at Nivoda, he recalled personally delivering diamonds by bicycle when a severe storm in the Netherlands prevented logistics providers from operating.

"The fact that FedEx couldn't deliver was no excuse for the customer not receiving their goods," he said.

A hands-on CFO

Lustenhouwer said his experience illustrates how the CFO role can expand rapidly in early-stage companies. "You have to be willing to get your hands dirty," he said.

After leaving Nivoda and taking time off following the birth of his first child, Lustenhouwer eventually returned to the startup world.

Through his network of investors, he met Dexory and joined the company as CFO inDecember。

Dexory already had a mature finance team at the time, but it was entering a more complex growth phase—expanding into new markets, managing larger funding rounds, and navigating more formal governance and compliance requirements.

He joined Dexory about two months after the company announced its$165 million Series C funding round. The round was aimed at accelerating AI-driven product development, strengthening the commercial team, and driving international expansion.

Lustenhouwer said Dexory's decision to appoint its first CFO reflects a transition many growing companies face: as business becomes increasingly complex, founders often need a strategic partner to help with decisions on unit economics, pricing, and long-term planning.

Building a lean finance function

One of his early priorities in the new role was to enhance financial capabilities while keeping the organization lean.

Before he joined, Dexory had several open finance positions. He scaled back the hiring plan, retaining only a few key roles, prioritizing efficiency over headcount expansion.

"I strongly believe in building a leaner, more efficient finance machine," he said. "Especially now with AI tools emerging, a lot of manual work can be automated."

The same operator mindset that shaped Lustenhouwer's startup career now carries over to his role at Dexory—where he is helping a company in a rapidly evolving market scale up.

Dexory uses autonomous robots to capture real-time data from warehouse environments and turn it into operational insights.

The market is being driven by factors such as rising warehouse complexity, e-commerce growth, and increased demand for supply chain visibility. Despite the overall macroeconomic weakness, warehouse automation orders saw a 7% increase in 2025, according to technology research firm Interact Analysis intake grew 7%, with multiple factors providing a buffer for the market.

"There is a lot of uncertainty right now, but it also creates opportunities for us," Lustenhouwer said.

"When supply chains are disrupted, having visibility into inventory becomes even more critical. That's where we come in," he said.