Governed Enterprise Intelligence launches as Maicell

ConnectPlaza has relaunched as Maicell, offering a governed living intelligence platform that delivers cloud-based integration powered by AI. Maicell is an integration software that facilitates connectivity between various applications, systems, and data sources. It achieves this through an intelligent fabric powered by AI.

The relaunch coincides with the appointment of Joost de Bot as its new CEO. He will lead the rebranded organisation as it looks to disrupt the IPaaS market with a new vision of governed intelligence.

The vision is an evolution of integration to something that ISVs and Enterprises need to focus on in the modern technology landscape. Where integration is not just about connecting systems. It is about doing so in an automated, yet governed way that ensures governance and minimises risk.

With De Bot’s appointment, the two co-founders and owners, Paul Lange and Wilco van Vliet, are stepping into new roles. Lange becomes Chief Operating Officer and Chief Finance Officer, and Wilco steps into the role of Chief Revenue Officer.

Paul Lange, Co-Founder, COO and CFO said: “Joost brings exceptional vision and leadership to Maicell and proven expertise in integration, automation and scaling global businesses. He is the ideal person to spearhead the relaunch of Maicell, and exciting roadmap and our next phase of growth.”

Wilco van Vliet, Co-Founder and CRO said: “The need for Maicell couldn’t be clearer – European institutions, enterprises and mid-market businesses are increasingly worried about AI governance, risky migrations and rising vendor costs. Joost will accelerate our go-to-market to meet massive and growing customer demand for smarter, safer modernisation.”

The rebirth of an IpaaS platform

Founded in the Netherlands in 2008 as ConnectPlaza, the company has now relaunched as Maicell. Its AI-native platform establishes a unified intelligent fabric that integrates systems, data, and insights, laying the groundwork for Governed Intelligence. This fabric is delivered via the core integration platform, ConnectPlaza. Which serves as the backbone for Maicell’s integration and automation efforts.

It is unclear whether Maicell will completely remove the ConnectPlaza name as yet. It ensures enterprise AI usage is coherent, compliant, and kept under executive oversight—crucial as businesses face growing challenges in this area.

Maicell’s intelligent integration fabric elegantly solves this common customer challenge. By enabling the seamless integration of legacy systems with modern, cloud-native solutions without the cost, lock-in, or complexity of global vendors. Therefore by enabling cloud, private cloud, hybrid and on-prem integration, Maicell’s enterprise-grade platform gives companies the power to go beyond mainstream connections and integrate even the most exotic software and systems.

With Maicell, businesses can avoid the costs, delays, and risks of legacy migration. While also deploying best-of-breed automation and AI swiftly and securely.

Through Maicell’s fabric, governance is intrinsic to the execution layer, applied consistently across internal integrations, API management, B2B/EDI exchanges and all AI interactions. Maicell enables visualisations of data ‘flows’ and simplifies queries, making complex insights accessible without compromising control, for:

• Consistent Enforcement: Uniform policy application across all execution points
• Centralised Control: Data access and flow remain under institutional authority
• Total Observability: Every action is observable and auditable by design
• Managed Evolution and Service: System changes are introduced through governed mechanisms with support as needed

Who is Joost de Bot

De Bot brings more than 20 years of experience leading high-growth, market-leading IPaaS vendors. He joins, having spent the last 15 months as a strategic consultant to SaaS businesses and as a fractional CRO.

De Bot spent nearly nine years at Jitterbit, leading the launch and expansion in the EMEA and APAC region. This was initially in Europe and finishing his time there as Senior Vice President & General Manager EMEA & APAC. He grew the international business segment across those regions to become 35% of overall revenue.

Before Jitterbit, he served as Regional Vice President of Northern Europe at IPaaS firm Mulesoft. He also spent nearly seven years in sales and sales leadership positions at EMC. He finished his career there as Director BeNeLux. De Bot also served at technology companies OpenText, Hummingbird, ICTopus BV, and Logica.

De Bot has a Degree in Communication & Design from Inholland University of Applied Sciences.

Joost de Bot, CEO of Maicell, said, “I’m delighted to join Maicell as CEO – a globally successful and proven technology business built in Europe with over 1,500 customers worldwide and a long-standing reputation for connecting complex systems. We’re relaunching ConnectPlaza as Maicell at a critical time: enterprises everywhere need to compete in the race to adopt AI but they don’t want to sacrifice cost control and good governance.

“They’ve had enough of rising vendor costs and lock-in and are crying out for an integration solution that seamlessly adapts to their existing infrastructure and enables rapid transformation with governed intelligence. Maicell answers that call with an integration fabric that not only links but also learns. Adapting to existing infrastructure and allowing businesses to remain agile, competitive – and always in control.”

Finally, why Maicell? Why now?

The name “Maicell” is built on the metaphor of the hidden, resilient networks that connect and protect life beneath a forest floor, which are largely composed of mycorrhizal fungi. These networks, often nicknamed the “Wood Wide Web” or the “Underground Forest”, consist of vast, thread-like webs of mycelium. These link the root systems of trees and plants, facilitating communication and resource sharing.

Maicell represents a living intelligence. It reflects Maicell’s AI-native, human-centric platform, where businesses can drive intelligent integration and governed orchestration.

Maicell is not a startup. The firm already has over 1,500 customers worldwide. Customers include:

• International retail store chain Wibra,
• Netherlands retailer Prénatal,
• US-based and the world’s largest global aviation distributor Proponent,
• Waste-to-energy company HVC.

Partners that OEM the solution into their own platforms include:

• Leading Fashion ERP provider, Reflecta Automation,
• IT services provider Revolution Software (a Toyota Division),

Problem solved

Maicell solves a problem, not with a sticking plaster like many IPaaS solutions do, but with a mature IPaaS platform that contains governance across the IT Landscape. Integration, according to many vendors, was an issue over a decade ago, and it still remains. That is partly because organisations have not yet replaced legacy systems that do not have the native APIs required for easy integration.

Research by the European Commission, found that 47% of EU enterprises have yet to transition to paid cloud. Often it is the core business software that differentiates the business and enables it to run day by day.

The issue is prevalent across multiple industries, with financial services and OT infrastructure reliant on legacy systems. It is estimated that up to 92% of UK financial services companies still rely on legacy technology, with 78% of their data sitting on-premises. 50% of industrial environments in Europe still rely on legacy systems, with 20% of infrastructure being legacy-dependent. It is this challenge that Maicell aims to help solve.

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

Under new, yet experienced leadership, can Maicell reinvigorate the IpaaS sector? Changing its brand, it clearly hopes to get in front of a wider audience than it had historically. As yet the company has not taken any funding. De Bot comes from firms that were funded. It will be interesting to see whether this is an option that the firm now considers.

According to Persistence Market Research, the global integration platform as a service (iPaaS) market size was valued at US$ 11.0 billion in 2026. And analysts project it will reach US$ 58.1 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 26.8% between 2026 and 2033. It will be interesting to see what De Bot’s approach to expansion is.

What markets will he target? Has he been given a war chest for marketing or permission to seek funding? What is interesting is that the founders, while stepping back from running the company, are still heavily involved in C-level positions. Expect to hear more from Maicell in the near future as it looks to differentiate itself from other IpaaS firms and expand its market share.

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