Hoopheggen

What Hoopheggen does

Stichting Hoopheggen is a Dutch non-profit foundation founded in 2019 to restore native hedgerows across the Netherlands and rebuild biodiversity corridors. The organization mobilizes a volunteer community of more than 2,000 people across roles such as Plantbazen (planting-day leaders), Intakers (site assessors), Heggies (planting assistants), and an online communication volunteer, with founder Jantine Schinkelshoek serving as unpaid Directeur and Mariette van Krieken managing sponsorships. Operations are governed by an unpaid Raad van Toezicht operating under the Governance Code Cultuur, with ANBI public-benefit status enabling tax-deductible giving. Since inception Hoopheggen has planted 100,783 meters of hedgerows across 28+ locations in multiple provinces, applying a methodology that requires a minimum of five native species per hedge using autochthonous 60-80 cm plant material sourced through partner Stichting Heg & Landschap.

The organization's service portfolio includes scheduled community planting days (Plantdagen), the annual Heggenfestijn flagship event offering personalized advice and plant material for €35 per household, biodiversity-monitoring webinars in collaboration with ecologist firm Eelerwoude, and excursions for dairy farmers under the Kennisnetwerk Kleine Landschapselementen initiative. Its technology footprint consists of a website-based intake and scheduling funnel, GIS-assisted site assessment, and biodiversity monitoring protocols developed with university and consultancy partners; no proprietary software platform or AI capability is disclosed. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, leveraging social media (Instagram and Facebook), newsletters, earned media (KRO-NCRV's BinnensteBuiten), and partner referrals (a.s.r., FrieslandCampina, Wij.land, Tijhuis Ingenieurs) to convert interest into landowner intakes.

Hoopheggen's revenue is entirely non-commercial and accrues from individual donations, corporate sponsorships, ticketed event revenue, and grants. The only publicly disclosed capital inflow is a €25,000 Innovatiefonds grant in 2022 from 'Samen voor biodiversiteit'. Operating costs are minimized through volunteer labor; the core team works remotely and meets bi-weekly. Primary customer segments are private landowners hosting hedges on residential or rural property, agricultural businesses (notably dairy and food-forest operators), municipalities, corporate ESG sponsors, and food-forest developers, with the care/healthcare vertical recently signaled as an emerging segment.

Name

Hoopheggen

Legal name

Stichting Hoopheggen

Website

https://hoopheggen.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hoopheggen is a Dutch non-profit foundation founded in 2019 that plants native hedgerows across the Netherlands through a volunteer community of 2,000+ people, serving private landowners, farmers, municipalities, and corporate sponsors with biodiversity restoration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Restoration Services

NAICS

Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Landscaping Services (561730)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Agroforestry & Silvopasture Systems (Alley Cropping, Windbreaks, Hedgerows) (AFAGAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Agroforestry & Shelterbelt/Windbreak Establishment (AFAMACAJ)

Keywords

• Hedgerow restoration
• Biodiversity conservation
• Community planting
• Landscape restoration
• Native species planting

Headquarters

HQ city

Olst-Wijhe

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual donations: Private individuals donate money to support hedge planting operations, covering costs such as plant materials, volunteer coordination, and equipment maintenance.
2. Corporate sponsorship: Companies sponsor Hoopheggen in exchange for association with biodiversity and landscape restoration goals. Sponsorship supports specific planting projects or general operations.
3. Grants and subsidy programs: Hoopheggen receives grant funding for innovation and landscape restoration projects, such as the 'Samen voor biodiversiteit' Innovatiefonds award of €25,000.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hoopheggen is a Dutch non-profit foundation that organizes community-driven hedge planting days (Plantdagen) across the Netherlands, coordinating volunteers to plant native-species hedgerows on land contributed by private landowners, farmers, and municipalities. The organization runs an annual Heggenfestijn event, provides personalized planting advice and native plant materials, and offers educational excursions and webinars on biodiversity monitoring and hedge management.

Product overview

Hoopheggen operates as a community-driven hedge planting organization, not a traditional software product company. The organization offers a service portfolio centered around hedgerow planting and biodiversity restoration in the Netherlands. Core offerings include organized Plantdagen (planting days) coordinated by volunteer Plantbazen, annual Heggenfestijn events providing plant advice and materials, biodiversity monitoring webinars, and agricultural excursions. The volunteer-based service model involves Intakers who assess planting sites, Heggies who assist at planting events, and Online heggies for communications. Products are delivered through community participation rather than a software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kennisnetwerk Kleine LandschapselementencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoopheggen participates as a knowledge partner in the Kennisnetwerk Kleine Landschapselementen, contributing expertise on hedgerow design, species selection, and maintenance to a network focused on restoring small landscape elements on Dutch farms. The network is led by Natuur en Milieufederatie Utrecht and Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht, with support from provincial and water board funds.
• BoerenNatuur Utrecht OostcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn agricultural nature management collective that supports farmers in implementing environmental measures. BoerenNatuur Utrecht Oost collaborates with Hoopheggen on hedgerow projects within the ANLb (Agrarisch Natuur- en Landschapsbeheer) subsidy framework, helping farmers access funding for hedge planting and maintenance.
• StreektuinenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStreektuinen, an organization promoting regional gardens and native plant use, co-organized the Heggen Festijn 2024 with Hoopheggen in Wijhe, contributing to the joint event's delivery of planting advice and plant material distribution.
• Meerbomen.numinorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMeerbomen.nu (More Trees Now), a tree-planting initiative in the Netherlands, partnered with Hoopheggen to co-host the Heggen Festijn 2024, providing cross-initiative promotion and shared volunteer engagement.
• EelerwoudecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEelerwoude, a landscape architecture and ecology firm, collaborates with Hoopheggen on biodiversity monitoring. Their ecologist Tim Asbreuk co-hosts Hoopheggen's monitoring webinar, and a student from Eelerwoude conducted a biodiversity monitoring project in the Deventer-IJsseldal area, providing scientific rigor to Hoopheggen's impact claims.
• Stichting Heg & LandschapcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStichting Heg & Landschap supplies native and largely autochthonous hedge plant material to Hoopheggen and its landowners. They also operate centralized pickup points for plant material, enabling Hoopheggen to serve landowners across the Netherlands, including remote areas.
• Gemeente RaaltecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe municipality of Raalte co-organizes the annual Heggenfestijn as part of the Raalte op Groen festival, providing venue support, promotion, and co-funding. The collaboration enables Hoopheggen to reach a wider audience and integrate the hedge festival into a broader green programming agenda.
• Provincie OverijsselcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Province of Overijssel supports the Heggenfestijn and Hoopheggen's regional planting activities as part of its biodiversity and landscape restoration policy agenda. Provincial backing enhances credibility and provides co-funding.
• Natuur voor ElkaarminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNatuur voor Elkaar (Nature for Each Other) is listed as a co-organizer of the Heggenfestijn 2025, contributing to event promotion and volunteer mobilization within its network of nature enthusiasts.
• Landschap OverijsselminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandschap Overijssel (Landscape Overijssel) co-organizes the Heggenfestijn 2025, lending its regional landscape expertise and network of landowners to the event.
• Meer Bomen Nu OverijsselminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMore Trees Now Overijssel is a co-organizer of the Heggenfestijn 2025, aligning its tree-planting mission with Hoopheggen's hedgerow restoration work.
• Centrum Agrarische Geschiedenis (CAG) & Kenniscentrum Immaterieel Erfgoed NederlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoopheggen collaborated with CAG and Kenniscentrum Immaterieel Erfgoed on a hedgerow braiding (heggenvlecht) podcast series, documenting intangible cultural heritage practices related to hedgerow management and involving interesting hedgerow people in storytelling.
• Wij.landminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWij.land supports regenerative agriculture and partners with Hoopheggen on hedge planting projects at Wij.land member farms, facilitating joint planting days in locations such as Hoogmade and Rijpwetering.
• Marion VrijburgminorOthersMarion Vrijburg is an illustrator and industrial designer who creates visual materials for Hoopheggen, including a hedge maintenance handbook, vision illustrations, and merchandise designs (canvas fruit bags). She makes complex sustainability topics accessible through simple illustrations.
• Tijhuis Ingenieurs (Hans Tijhuis)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerEntrepreneur Hans Tijhuis and his engineering firm support Hoopheggen by bringing volunteers, providing coffee during planting days, and making corporate donations. His firm contributed to the Elst Voedselbosboeren planting project.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Regional players

• Stichting Landschap Overijssel: Regional landscape foundation in Overijssel that co-organizes Hoopheggen's 2025 Heggenfestijn. Operates in the same Dutch landscape restoration space with comparable landowner engagement and biodiversity goals.

Direct peers

• Wij.land: Channel partner running joint planting days at Wij.land member farms. A Dutch regenerative agriculture foundation supporting farmers with biodiversity transitions, addressing overlapping landowner and corporate sustainability audiences.
• Stichting Heg & Landschap: Supplies native and autochthonous hedge plant material to Hoopheggen for distribution. A closely aligned foundation dedicated to preserving and planting Dutch hedgerows using indigenous species, sharing both mission and methodology.
• Stichting Meer Bomen Nu: Direct peer and co-organizer of Heggen Festijn 2024. A Dutch volunteer-driven tree-planting initiative also mobilizing citizens to plant trees across the Netherlands, with a similar community-led, events-based planting model.
• BoerenNatuur Utrecht Oost: Strategic partner routing ANLb subsidy-funded hedge projects to Hoopheggen. An agricultural nature management collective that connects farmers with funding for landscape elements, operating at the same intersection of agriculture and biodiversity restoration.

Broad incumbents

• Natuurmonumenten: Netherlands' largest nature conservation organization managing over 100,000 hectares of natural areas. A broad incumbent with overlapping goals of biodiversity restoration, though its focus is on protected area management rather than volunteer-led planting on private land.
• LandschappenNL: Umbrella organization of 19 Dutch regional landscape foundations. Operates the broader Dutch landscape stewardship ecosystem that Hoopheggen plugs into, with larger scale and broader remit but overlapping activities on hedgerows and small landscape elements.
• IVN Natuureducatie: Dutch nature education association engaging volunteers in citizen science and conservation activities. Comparable volunteer-driven biodiversity engagement model, though covering a broader portfolio of nature education beyond hedge planting.

Emerging players

• Stichting Voedselbosbouw Nederland: Dutch foundation promoting food forestry and agroforestry systems. Overlaps with Hoopheggen through shared agroforestry principles and partnership with De Jonge Voedselbosboeren, but focuses on productive food forests rather than hedgerows.
• Common Ground (formerly Soil Association)Landscape Recovery: UK-based landscape restoration community undertaking hedgerow and tree planting on a volunteer-led model. Comparable mission and community engagement approach, though operating in a different geography with regional environmental context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hoopheggen

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hoopheggen