Startup Spotlight: Dembrane on Listening with Data
Posted on
Anyone who talks to Bram Delisse notices right away that he listens closely. That fits his work. At Dembrane, the company he cofounded with Jorim Theuns, Sameer Pashikanti, and Evelien Nieuwenburg, everything revolves around listening: to people, to opinions, to what’s really going on behind the words.
Always seeking growth
Bram grew up in Oss and moved to the United States after high school, where he played tennis for two years. “That experience shaped me,” he says. “You learn perseverance, but also independence. Since then, I’ve deliberately sought out environments that challenge me and help me improve.”
After returning to the Netherlands, he studied physics, but missed the human aspect. “I wanted to understand how knowledge can make a difference for people. That’s why I ended up at JADS, in the master’s program Data Science in Business and Entrepreneurship (DSBE). That’s where I discovered how you can combine data and behavior to drive real change.”
After graduating, Bram joined Dembrane. “The company’s mission spoke to me immediately,” he says. “Combining technology and behavioral science to make collaboration and decision-making fairer. It felt like a natural next step.”
🎧 Want to hear more?
In the JADS Data Dates podcast, Bram shares how Dembrane’s tool ECHO turns dialogue into insight — and how AI can actually help rebuild trust in democracy. Listen to the full conversation (in Dutch) on Spotify
What Dembrane does
At Dembrane, technology, behavioral science, and social engagement come together. The company has developed a platform that helps turn conversations and ideas from stakeholders into concrete policy.
“Dembrane is the first stakeholder-engagement platform that transforms unstructured dialogues into concrete plans and policy in real time,” Bram explains. “We capture spoken and written input, live or later, in multiple languages, without requiring participants to download anything. Everything is brought together in a clear dashboard that shows how each contribution factored into the final decision.”
The platform is used mainly by public and civil-society organizations, where transparency is essential. “We make it clear what happens with all the input. That builds trust and creates a fairer process.”
Listening at scale
To illustrate what Dembrane can do, Bram sketches a hypothetical scenario. “Imagine a municipality wants to involve residents in drafting a sustainability plan. Often they hold a few in-person meetings, but that way you only hear a small portion of the population. With Dembrane, you can give others a voice too: people can record or write down their ideas whenever it suits them. Within a few days you gather hundreds of contributions. The software automatically maps which themes are resonating and where there’s consensus or disagreement. As a policymaker, you get a much fairer picture of what’s going on.”
That idea, listening at scale, is at the core of what Dembrane does.
Echo
To make this even easier, the team developed Echo. “Echo makes it easy for participants to record conversations,” Bram says. “That gives organizations a richer view of what truly matters. You go from a few meetings to thousands of asynchronous contributions. It makes participation more inclusive and effective.”
According to Bram, Echo fits perfectly with Dembrane’s mission: using technology to better understand people, not to replace them. “We want to strengthen dialogue. Data is a means to deepen empathy and insight.”
A Growing team with a shared mission
Dembrane started small, with Jorim, Evelien, and Bram taking the first steps together. The team has since expanded with specialists in technology, data, behavior, and communications. “We’re really building,” Bram says. “It’s great to see people from different backgrounds coming together around the same goal: making collaboration more human with the help of technology.”
Dembrane continues to grow and is looking for new colleagues. “We’re looking for someone to support Evelien in sales and customer engagement. Someone curious, proactive, and eager to help build. Here you get a front-row seat to how a company develops. It’s incredibly instructive.”
What Bram appreciates is seeing that same energy at JADS. “The Playground feels like an extension of what we do at Dembrane. It’s a place where startups, students, and researchers reinforce one another. It sparks creativity, entrepreneurship, and collaboration.”
Curiosity as a driving force
At the end of the conversation, Bram emphasizes the importance of staying open. “Talk about what you’re doing, even if it’s not perfect yet,” he says. “You learn the most by sharing ideas and getting feedback. Entrepreneurship is learning together, trying things, and sometimes failing. That’s part of the deal. Stay curious, keep listening.”
Want to learn more?
Dembrane is always looking for people who want to help build the future of participation and dialogue—whether you have experience in data, technology, behavioral science, or communications. If the idea of making organizations more human-centered excites you, get in touch.
Curious about what’s possible or just want to meet? Email bram@dembrane.com.
