Welcoming Jacqueline Pieters as Skytree’s Chief Financial Officer

AMSTERDAM, June 16, 2026 Skytree is entering its next phase of global growth. Scaling Direct Air Capture (DAC) internationally is capital-intensive work, and it calls for a clear financing strategy and experienced financial leadership. To lead it, Skytree has appointed Jacqueline Pieters as Chief Financial Officer and statutory director, effective 1 August 2026, a key milestone in its journey toward becoming a global industry leader.

Jacqueline joins the Skytree Management Board alongside CEO Rob van Straten and COO Floris de Bruijn, who currently holds both the CFO and COO roles. Her appointment allows Floris to focus fully on his role as COO, leading the company’s operations and execution during this high-growth stage. 

Jacqueline’s remit as CFO goes to the core of Skytree’s scale-up: shaping the financing strategy and capital structure behind the company’s growth, leading capital raising for both corporate development and project financing, and putting in place the investor relations, governance and risk controls that large-scale, bankable deployment demands.

She brings exactly the profile this phase calls for: over 30 years experience in international finance and banking, with deep expertise in equity and debt financing, complex financial structuring, M&A, and governance. Which she gained during an impressive 28-year career at Rabobank and several board roles at organizations like Invest International and Aqua Spark.

We sat down with Jacqueline to hear what drew her to Skytree, how she sees the path to scaling and where she plans to focus first.

What drew you to Skytree?

In my effort to deepen my knowledge of the energy transition, I came across Skytree. The company offers me a unique opportunity to bring together the three topics I care most about: finance, international agribusiness, and the energy transition.

Combined with the strength of the team, the exciting phase of scaling production and expanding internationally, and the positive ESG impact of Direct Air Capture technology, this made the opportunity very compelling and ultimately drew me to this new role.

Direct Air Capture has to scale quickly, yet the industry is still maturing. How do you see Skytree’s role and its financial path?

Demand for fossil-free CO₂ is growing much faster than current supply. The key challenges are cost and speed of deployment, which is precisely where Skytree’s modular, standardised approach offers a strong competitive advantage.

My role is to develop and execute a clear financial and strategic vision that will further professionalise the company and ensure its long-term financial stability. This includes strengthening financial reporting, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks, and implementing appropriate risk controls.

Another major focus will be investor relations and capital strategy, to support both corporate growth and project financing.

What will your first priorities be as CFO?

My first priority is to listen and learn. I want to spend time with teams across engineering, commercial, finance, and operations to gain a deep understanding of the business.

From there, I will work closely with Rob and the leadership team to ensure the company is well positioned to scale sustainably and has the financial resources needed to support that growth.

Skytree spans technology development, manufacturing and large-scale deployment. How do you see finance in light of that?

What makes Skytree compelling is how these elements reinforce one another: a production-ready, standardised product enables scalable manufacturing, making DAC technology financeable while meeting the growing demand from customers willing to invest in this emerging solution.

What I find most energising is balancing these components: ensuring disciplined execution supported by appropriate financial structures, delivering value creation while maintaining strong liquidity and overall financial resilience.

You have led organizations through demanding environments before. What gives you confidence in Skytree?

Above all, it is the team. Skytree combines more than a decade of scientific expertise with people who understand both the engineering and the market, and who are committed to executing on a clear mission.

The company is offering a solution that is both technically and economically viable for a real and pressing industry challenge. That combination is rare, and it gives me great confidence in what we can achieve together.

About Jacqueline Pieters

Jacqueline built an impressive 28-year career at Rabobank from 1992 to 2021, ultimately serving as Global Head Banking for Food, a division she created and led with 160 FTE, having previously been Global Head Dairy and Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions. She currently chairs the Board of Invest International, the impact investor co-owned by the Dutch government and FMO, serves as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at Aqua Spark, sits on the Ny Begun investment committee, and chairs the Wageningen University Fund. She holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Wageningen University & Research and has completed executive programmes at Chicago Booth, Harvard Business School, HEC, and IMD.

Leadership statements

Rob van Straten, CEO of Skytree:  “Through many conversations with Jacqueline over the past months, I have come to know her as an exceptionally accomplished professional and as a person of real depth, warmth, and strategic vision. I am confident this partnership will help Skytree to the next scale-up phase of professionalism on our journey to become a global industry leader. Jacqueline brings exactly the combination of financial expertise, governance maturity, and genuine passion for impact that this next chapter demands.”

Floris de Bruijn, COO of Skytree:  “Welcoming Jacqueline to the Management Board marks an important milestone for Skytree. With her appointment and my handover of all CFO responsibilities, I will fully dedicate myself to my role as COO, focused on operationalising the business and executing against our order book. The financial leadership is now in exceptional hands.”

Jacqueline Pieters, incoming CFO:  “I very much look forward to working with the Skytree team, our investors, customers, and other stakeholders to take the organisation to the next level. Over the past months I have had many conversations with Rob, Floris, several investors, and members of the management team, and I have been truly impressed by where Skytree stands today and by the enthusiasm of its people. I look forward to officially starting on 1 August.”

About Skytree

Skytree engineers the CO₂ transition by developing Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that captures CO₂ from the air and repurposes it for good: whether carbon is reused across different industries or stored permanently.

With over a decade of innovation rooted in the European Space Agency (ESA), Skytree’s patented DAC technology transforms atmospheric CO₂ into a valuable resource: powering applications like renewable fuels and chemicals, greenhouses, beverage carbonation, food packaging and water treatment.

Skytree’s modular DAC machines and unique DAC Park architecture allow companies to deploy in any climate, at scale, offering a bankable path to CO₂ supply security and price stability, and accelerating the transition to a circular CO₂ economy.