Philip Hess
Co-founder SENZ Umbrellas, Delft

After completing two Masters degrees in Industrial Design Engineering and Business Administration, Philip Hess, 28, co-founded SENZ Umbrellas with two friends in the Netherlands, known for bringing the SENZ storm umbrella to the market.

Started out of frustration with the 3,400 year-old traditional umbrella, Philip and two friends took on the task to develop the ultimate umbrella, which eliminates all the well-known umbrella struggles such as inversion, breakage, poor visibility, eye-poking and uncomfortable use. The company’s umbrellas have earned numerous international design awards, such as:

1. Winner of the red dot design award 2007
2. Winner of the Dutch Design Award 2007
3. Winner of the Audi Design Award 2007
4. Nominee for the Buzz Award 2007
5. Voted by TIME Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2007
6. Nominee for the German Design Award 2008
7. Nominee for the Marketing Excellence Award 2008
8. Winner of the Gold IDEA Award 2008
9. Winner of the Good Design Award 2008
10. Winner of the Observeur Design Award 2009

Philip is responsible for all of SENZ Umbrellas’ commercial activities, and will enthusiastically take you with him on his entrepreneurial roller coaster ride. Philip lives and works in Delft, the Netherlands.