Cor Verburgh returns as Financial Controller EMEA at ReadSpeaker

Cor Verburgh returned in June 2026 to Driebergen-based text-to-speech company ReadSpeaker, this time in the role of Financial Controller EMEA. Verburgh had previously worked for the company for six years as a Controller, starting in 2018, before leaving for the travel sector.

In the period between his two tenures at ReadSpeaker, Verburgh spent more than two years as Financial Controller at travel organisation Voja.Travel. Before that, he began his career in finance in 2003 at Arnold Suhr Netherlands, where he worked his way up to Financial Manager. With his return, he takes on responsibility for the financial management of ReadSpeaker's European, Middle Eastern and African operations.

ReadSpeaker: a Dutch player in text-to-speech

ReadSpeaker was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Driebergen-Rijsenburg. The legal entity ReadSpeaker B.V. has existed since 2008. The company provides text-to-speech technology to organisations worldwide and now offers more than 300 neural voices in over 90 languages. ReadSpeaker says it supports more than 10,000 voice applications globally and employs approximately 146 people.

The company was long part of Japanese optics giant HOYA Corporation, which acquired it in 2017. In September 2025, investment fund Marunouchi Capital Inc. (MCAP) acquired all shares from HOYA through its Marunouchi Capital Fund III. As a result, ReadSpeaker Holding B.V. and the Japanese and Korean subsidiaries transferred to the new owner. ReadSpeaker now operates as an independent company under Japanese private equity ownership.

Finance function after ownership change

Verburgh's return follows a period of significant change in ReadSpeaker's ownership structure. The acquisition by MCAP in autumn 2025 created a new organisational situation in which the company stepped away from the broader HOYA structure. In such a transition phase, financial roles, and certainly those with a regional scope such as an EMEA position, take on a different character: processes that were previously embedded within a larger corporate structure need to be rebuilt or anchored within the independent organisation.

Verburgh brings knowledge of the company's internal processes from his earlier period at ReadSpeaker. His experience at Voja.Travel, a travel organisation operating in an entirely different sector and on a different scale, adds a further frame of reference. The combination of returning familiarity with the company and recent experience elsewhere is a pattern that occurs frequently at organisations seeking stability in key roles following a transition or growth phase.

Personnel move in the Dutch AI scene

Appointments at the level of Financial Controller EMEA are not always news in themselves in the Dutch tech sector, but at ReadSpeaker the move fits into a broader context. The company has been active in speech technology for decades, placing it among the layer of Dutch tech companies that existed long before generative AI came under the spotlight in recent years. With more than 300 neural voices and a global customer base, ReadSpeaker has built a solid position in a market that is now also attracting the attention of major tech corporations and new entrants.

For founders and investors in the Dutch AI and speech tech sector, the situation at ReadSpeaker illustrates how changes in ownership are accompanied by a reshaping of the management team. The decision to bring back a former employee for a regional finance role reflects a strategy in which continuity and institutional knowledge carry significant weight, something that will resonate with many companies in the Dutch ecosystem operating amid considerable technological and organisational change.