Our Story

Family founded and run since 2014, we believe in creativity, imagination, care and connection. And it’s been a great road trip so far!

The idea

Waytoplay was born from a family passion for playing with toy cars in sun and sand. Father, inventor and designer Sybren created waytoplay for his son Joep, way back in 2003. That led down a road of evolution to the unbreakable weatherproof road for everyone to enjoy today.

Crowdfunded

Did we say family business? Yep. After an initial crowdfunding in 2014, Marise, Sybren’s wife and Lex, joined the team, to help drive the transformation to a real business. The first 250 sets were sold in the blink of an eye. We had found an audience.

Scaling up

Waytoplay is driven by people. At our hightech partner, in the Netherlands, skilled specialists make our road segments. Looks simple? Trust us, it’s not. The segments are then printed and packaged in The Netherlands. They provide sheltered employment, regular work for people with little access to work. This makes us happy and proud.

Meet the team!

We are family. Even those that technically aren’t. Our team is devoted to remaining approachable to customers, partners and retailers. We foster a family spirit of connection, care and commitment to what we love.

Sybren Jelles

CEO & Founder

As a child, inventor and designer Sybren Jelles loved playing with toy cars. He created waytoplay for his son Joep - The unbreakable, weatherproof road set that is waytoplay.

Marise Jelles

Co-founder & Finance

Together with Sybren she forms the heart and soul of the brand. In atelier waytoplay Marise creates beautiful hand-painted back&forth cars, does in-house product photography, propagates and grows plants.