With Breaking Barriers, the company is focusing on international growth and strategic positioning.
Making the built environment more sustainable requires scale, speed, and reliable digital support. Sobolt develops housing software that makes this transition smarter and more feasible and now serves more than 200,000 users. By participating in Breaking Barriers, the company is preparing for international growth and a stronger positioning within Europe. In this interview, founder Jeroen van Zwieten discusses Sobolt's growth path, the role of AI, and the strategic issues that are currently at stake.
Smarter recording, faster decisions
Sobolt develops home sustainability software in various forms: from individual tools to energy labels, advice, and complete sustainability programs. In all cases, the same underlying AI technology forms the basis.
This technology automates a large part of the process. Whereas advisors used to record a lot of information manually, much of it is now filled in automatically based on data. "All you really need to do is check it. That allows you to focus on the people and the choices, rather than on administration," explains Jeroen. The effect is measurable: "It's about 30% faster and 30% better. We now support thousands of home surveys per day, with thousands of advisors working with our software."
That scale is decisive, because the sustainability challenge is greater than is often thought. "For a layman, it's about an energy label," says Jeroen. "But for a housing association, it can be about keeping an entire block of homes affordable. That's when investments, regulations, and social impact all come into play at the same time."
AI application based on market knowledge
Sobolt has been working with AI for years. "Five years ago, we trained our own models and experimented extensively," says Jeroen. The emergence of large language models changed the playing field, but not the basic principles. "We use LLMs, in addition to deep learning models that we have developed ourselves and continue to develop. What we deliberately no longer do is throw AI tricks onto the market. That doesn't work."
What does work is building on practical experience. "We don't just supply software, we also implement parts of sustainability programs ourselves," says Jeroen. "This allows us to see where consultants run into problems, where processes slow down, and what information is really needed."
Breaking Barriers as a strategic accelerator
For Sobolt, the next phase is all about scaling up, focus, and sharper strategic choices. "It helps to open the shutters every now and then and question your own assumptions," says Jeroen. "You're fully immersed in the implementation, helping customers, and continuing to build. That's precisely when it's good to look outside."
Breaking Barriers ties in directly with this. "The program opens windows," he says. "With expertise and a network that we don't have in-house. People who look at growth in a different way and help us position ourselves more strategically."
Within Breaking Barriers, Sobolt is working on international expansion, targeted acquisitions, and sharper positioning. "We want to start working with corporate clients across the border and explore mergers that will accelerate our growth," explains Jeroen. "Not to grow for the sake of growing, but where it makes sense. At the same time, we want to formulate more clearly what we stand for and which parties fit in with that. Breaking Barriers helps us make those choices more consciously."
Growing in Europe
Sobolt focuses explicitly on Europe, but not without questions. "Making homes more sustainable is not just about technology, but also about data," says Jeroen. "All geometry, photos, and home data play a role in this. If we don't pay close attention, a large part of this will end up with non-European parties."
The choice of software and infrastructure for the energy transition is therefore strategic. "Do you opt for free solutions and submit your data, or do you invest in European systems? European solutions are not necessarily better than alternatives from the US, but they are not necessarily worse either." Sobolt closely monitors these considerations and consciously positions itself as part of a European software ecosystem.
At the same time, Jeroen is realistic about the preconditions. “Geopolitical developments are creating opportunities in Europe, but only if that space is actually utilized. If no one is willing to invest in European systems, it will be difficult to continue offering them in a sustainable manner. That question is now firmly on the table.”
