“Surviving the Valley of Death”

“Think before you leap.” A saying that applies to many startup entrepreneurs.

For starting your own business is rarely a short sprint. It is a long-term endeavor, a story of falling and getting back up, and above all: of persevering when things get tough.

A particularly inspiring example is the entrepreneurial story of Michiel Van Meervenne, Founder van Kriket.

At FXT26, Gert Gijbels, CEO of NOA (Netwerk Ondernemen Accelerator) speaks with Michiel about perhaps one of the most challenging phases in a startup's growth story:

“Surviving the Valley of Death”.

What happens when the initial enthusiasm has faded, but sustainable growth is not yet a given? How do you stay afloat as an entrepreneur? And above all: what makes the difference between stopping and continuing?

Michiel Van Meervenne

Michiel is the founder of KRIKET, a Brussels food company with a mission to make crickets a common, nutritious, and sustainable protein source.

His entrepreneurial journey began in 2016, when Michiel was still working as an agricultural and food journalist and visited an urban cricket farm in Brussels. Fascinated by the nutritional and ecological potential of crickets, he wondered why they were almost impossible to find in everyday food products.

That question formed the starting point for KRIKET. Together with his sister Anneleen, Michiel set to work to overcome one of the biggest barriers to alternative proteins: consumer acceptance. By incorporating cricket powder into familiar and tasty products such as bars and granola, KRIKET aims to make a radically different protein source accessible to the average consumer. KRIKET is now also a certified B Corp.

In 2026, Michiel launched a second brand, AMANDA, in collaboration with Eva De Roo. A vegan snack based on dates, nuts, and Belgian chocolate.

Gert Gijbels

Gert is CEO of NOA (Netwerk Ondernemen Accelerator), the accelerator for start-ups and scale-ups in Flanders.

As an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience, active in various companies, he personally experienced how valuable a sounding board from other entrepreneurs can be.

Driven by this need, he founded NOA together with several other entrepreneurs in 2014. Together with more than 200 mentors and 50 experts, NOA guides a portfolio of 140 innovative and ambitious entrepreneurs in accelerating their growth.