Gijs Coppens

Gijs Coppens is a Dutch entrepreneur, engineer, and clinical psychologist who founded the mental health practice iPractice and the mental health technology company OpenUp.

Education

Coppens initially studied engineering at Delft University of Technology before training to be a clinical psychologist at Tilburg University.

Career

After graduating from Tilburg University, Coppens had his own psychology practice in Amsterdam. He also served as a mental health psychologist at the hospital Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis (OLVG).

In 2007, Coppens founded the LED lamp manufacturer Ledzworld in Malaysia. The challenges he encountered while leading the company inspired him to pursue a degree in psychology at Tilburg University.

Next, Coppens founded the online mental health practice iPractice in 2019, enriching traditional therapy with chat therapy.

He retained a minority stake after Smile Invest acquired a majority stake in the company in 2025. Coppens also founded OpenUp in 2020 with as founding-investor Dutch entrepreneur Floris Rost van Tonningen.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Coppens appeared in a number of publications and interviews to provide his opinions, as an expert clinical psychologst.

For his work with OpenUp, Coppens received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ernst & Young in 2023.