WORLD STARTUP FACTORY INVESTOR LOUNGE DEN HAAG

The World Startup Factory (WSF) Investor Lounge brings the startups participating in the WSF Connectivity Accelerator face to face with their potential investors. The WSF Investor Lounge is the tipping point for the startups to get the essential capital and the right investor(s) onboard. The event is co-hosted by ABN AMRO and InnovationQuarter. The event has a lounge setting to facilitate more personal interaction between the startups and potential investors. Startups will get the opportunity to present their business plan to investors in order to get them on board!

The WSF Investor Lounge is invitation only. If you are interested, please pre-register using the pre-registration ticket for an invitation.

The Connectivity Accelerator is a program delivered by World Startup Factory in collaboration with a strong network of partners like KPN, SPIE and the city of The Hague. During their 100 day participation, the connectivity startups, which are incorporated in the Netherlands, have fasttracked their customer validation and investor readiness. They are ready to turn customer traction into tangible value. Curious? Know more: worldstartupfactory.com

During the WSF Investor Lounge, the connectivity startups present themselves to a group of select investors that are interested in further fueling the growth of promising startups. The WSF Investor Lounge is not a pitching event. Its an occasion to facilitate personal acquaintance between our startup teams and interested investors. Bauke Bokma de Boer, Founder & CEO of Vacuvita is a keynote speaker.

Agenda

13.00 Doors open and registration
13.30 Welcome note by Mathijs Koper and Gerrit Jan van ‘t Veen (co-founders of World Startup Factory)
13.45 Investing in Shared Value by Francis Quint (InnovationQuarter) and Margot Potman (ABN AMRO)
14:00 Bauke Bokma de Boer (Keynote)
14:30 User Stories by startups
15.30 Lounge carrousel to discuss investor propositions
17.00 Networking drinks

WSF is happy to answer your questions or remarks, feel free to contact them by email via mathijs@worldstartupfactory.com or call +316 33 93 70 26. If you are new to WSF and the startups, you can also use the option of setting up meetings with them before the 21st April.

Participants in the Connectivity Accelerator program are:

• Beep Beep Parking (www.beepbeepparking.com) [Netherlands]
• Connective Floors [Netherlands]
• Motortourer (motortourer.com) [Netherlands]
• Sentralia Labs (www.sentralia.com) [Romania]
• Woody’s Housing (woodyshousing.com) [Netherlands]
• XGear (xgear.io) [Pakistan]
• Ingenious (www.ingenious.io) [Turkey]
• M Technologies (www.mtechnology.bg) [Bulgaria]
• Blupath (www.blupath.co.uk) [Cyprus]
• IUGO Connected Vehicles (www.myiugo.com) [Turkey]

When

Thursday, April 21, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (CEST) – Add to Calendar

Pre-register with this link for an invitation.

Where

The Penthouse – Rijswijkseplein 786, 2516 Den Haag, Netherlands – View Map

Meet Your Co-founder 15 Apr ’16

Zoek jij een co-founder voor jouw startup? Of wil jij juist instappen bij een startup?

Kom dan op vrijdag 15 april langs in het Beatrixgebouw en ontmoet jouw co-founder!

Een sterk, complementair team maakt meer kans op succes dan éénpitters. Als startup heb je zo meer expertise en kennis in huis en kun je sneller opschalen. Om mensen aan elkaar te koppelen, organiseert incubator UtrechtInc samen met Computable gedurende het Appril Festival 2016 de Meet Your Co-founder speeddates.

Dit gratis netwerkevent is een must voor jou wanneer…

… Jij als startup op zoek bent naar een co-founder: Je werkt aan jouw startup, alleen het team is nog niet compleet. Op 15 april ontmoet je ondernemers, investeerders, business developers en (IT) specialisten die zich oriënteren op nieuwe startup ideeën om bij aan te sluiten. Tijdens dit event kom je meer te weten over hun expertise en commitment. Meld je aan! Wie weet vind je de juiste partner die met jou mee gaat ondernemen.

… Jij op zoekt bent naar nieuwe startup ideeën om bij aan te sluiten: Op 15 april ga je in gesprek met startups die op zoek zijn naar mede-ondernemers. Ze zoeken vaak mensen met een technische (IT) of juist commerciële/business development achtergrond. Iemand die hands on is en de operationele of financiele kant van de startup met kracht wil oppakken. Meld je aan! Wie weet ben jij straks co-founder van een startup die de wereld gaat veranderen!

Computable Award: Startup van het Jaar 2016
Dit is nog niet alles! Voorafgaand aan Meet Your Co-founder kun je als publiek deelnemen aan de voorronde voor Computable Startup van het Jaar. Die middag presenteren 20 startups zichzelf om kans te maken op de titel. Leer van de pitches en de feedback van de jury en doe er jouw voordeel mee. Wie weet win jij samen met jouw co-founder volgend jaar de titel? Uiteraard is het ook mogelijk om alleen deel te nemen aan Meet Your Co-founder vanaf 17:00 uur.

Programma – MYC start om 17:00 uur
14:00 Startup van het Jaar – Ontvangst
14:30 Startup van het Jaar – 1e ronde pitching
17:00 Meet Your Co-founder – How to build a winning team
17:15 Meet Your Co-founder – Speeddates
18:30 Drinks
19:30 Einde

Aanmelden
Of je nu zelf een startup hebt of bij een startup wilt aansluiten, hieronder meld je jezelf gratis aan voor Meet Your Co-founder. Voorafgaand aan het event heb je een overzicht van alle aanmeldingen. Zo kun je je alvast voorbereiden en bepalen met wie je graag in gesprek wilt op 15 april 2016.

DIA-meetup during Innovative Enterprise conference turns into a fierce debate

Last Friday – 1 April 2016 – DIA organised the discussion ‘Direct vs. Indirect funding of start-ups and scale-ups in Europe’ as part of the Innovative Enterprise conference in The Hague – a European Commission initiative. Our challenge was to initiate a debate on what the winning strategy for incubators and other start-up programs would be considering the pros and cons of direct participation in the ventures they support.

DIA meetup 01-04-2016 direct vs indirect funding of start-ups and scale-ups in Europe by Pim de Bokx

Speakers

For the purpose of this debate, DIA invited three practitioners that have a vast experience in this field, but different opinions.

• Ingrid Willems, Entrepreneur in residence, iMinds (B), digital research and innovation institute – see presentation
• Maurice Beckand Verwee, Founder, Crosspring Accelerator (NL) and Startup-Scaleup.eu – see presentation
• Tijs Markusse, Business Developer UtrechtInc (NL), founding Editor @StartupJuncture – see presentation

Debate

After the presentations, discussion leader Pim de Bokx (chairman DIA) organised the debate along 3 hypothesis;

1. Incubators shouldn’t try to become investors, that is another business
2. (seed) Accelerators that solely depend on the return made on their investments, will not survive
3. Incubators, accelerators and other start-up supporters start their support to early

Video Report

A lively debate followed the presentations. According to the 50+ participants the discussion could have been extended for at least 30 minutes, there was so much to share about this topic. See for the full report this video registration (start at 00:08:40).

Direct vs indirect funding of start-ups and scale-ups in the EU from Innovative Enterprise on Vimeo

.

 

More pictures

Dutch Ministry to help train 1.000 Nigerian entrepreneurs

It seems everywhere in Nigeria, it is one incubator or next. Starting in May 2016, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with Startpreneur and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs will establish entrepreneurship incubator centres in Abuja, Lagos and Jos respectively with the intention to build great businesses.

Disclosing this development through a statement signed by Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Head of Corporate Affairs, the Acting Director General of NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji said the partnership will uplift over one thousand young Nigerians from the status of unemployment.

He revealed that the Federal Capital Territory has been chosen as the place to commence the program, which will kick start from May 2016 till December 2018, saying the program is considered to be a macrocosm of Nigeria, where all Nigerians from any part can live and call home.

But hold your breaths, Nigeria is too good on this. We have had such visits for ages and nothing to show. It is all photo ops and nothing more. But we can be wrong especially if the Dutch will fund it. It is very likely that the Dutch government may be contractors in training entrepreneurs with Nigeria footing the bills.

 

source: TEKDIA 

Swiss Banks UBS and Credit Suisse Launch Fintech Accelerator

Credit Suisse and UBS, the two largest banks in Switzerland, are joining forces to launch a new financial technology accelerator. The financial giants are partnering with other small firms in Europe such as Swisscom, Ernst & Young, Swiss Life to create an accelerator that focuses on internationalism and younger startups in their infancy.

The first phase of the program will launch this summer in Zurich. The program is attempting to emulate the Kickstart Accelerator created by DigitalZurich2025.

Both accelerators are pushing for internationalism by providing key services and integration, while also attempting to persuade foreign companies to use Switzerland as a base country for operations. The new accelerator being launched by UBS and Credit Suisse will attempt to focus specifically on wealth management, blockchain technology and digital identity and authorization technology.

The push for internationalization appears to be working, with Switzerland having an enormous number of fintech associations, despite its relatively small size and population.

So far, the accelerator is receiving support from two Swiss fintech associations, Swiss Finance Startups and Swiss Finance and Technology Association. Another aim of the new accelerator is to help push and develop new and more robust fintech regulations, a sector that Ernst & Young believe the Swiss government is failing behind in.

interested? Go to kickstart-accelerator.com

source: paymentweek.com

Crowdfunding Masterclass 01 april Den Haag

De CrowdfundingHub – Europees Crowdfunding kenniscentrum – organiseert als onderdeel van de Innovative Enterprise conferentie de masterclass rond deze alternatieve vormen van financiering. Deze masterclass is vooral bedoeld voor incubators, accelerators en andere startup supporters die crowdfunding strategisch willen inpassen in hun activiteiten en business model .

Voor deze masterclass wordt een kleine eigen bijdrage gevraagd van € 50,00 (ex. BTW) om het no-show percentage zo laag mogelijk te houden.

Trainer: Koen Wisse, Associate Partner Oreijs Capital and Management

AANMELDEN

DOEN Foundation acquires minority share in Rockstart

The DOEN Foundation has acquired a minority share in startup accelerator program Rockstart, headquartered in Amsterdam. The so-called strategic partnership is aimed at expanding the program abroad.

Although financial details weren’t disclosed, an investment of ‘several millions of euro’s’ is estimated within the startup scene.  The accelerator wishes to grow its team and will start programs in Singapore and Bogota soon.

“This partnership comes at a particularly momentous time”,  Oscar Kneppers, founder of Rockstart says.  This week Rockstart celebrates its fifth birthday. “DOEN’s investment allows us to continue to focus on international expansion and supporting founders across the world.”

Goals

DOEN CFO Jasper Snoek ….

source: startupjuncture.com Read More

Masterclass #GrowthHacking; YOU WANT GROWTH? BECOME A GROWTH HACKER!

Als onderdeel van de Innovative Enterprise conferentie van de Europese Commissie, onder patronage van het Nederlandse voorzitterschap van de EU organiseert Pioneerz de Growth Hacking Masterclass. In samenwerking met Growth Hound uit Rome biedt de masterclass ondernemers toegang tot nieuwe inzichten en technieken om de groei van hun bedrijf doelgericht aan te pakken.

PROGRAMMA

Growth Hacking 101

Maxime Corbeau (former growth manager RELX group) and Luca Barboni (GrowthHound)

(20 min)

Main Speaker

on Growing her/his company

(25 min)

Workshops

several tracks, on practical tools, with training (bring your laptop!)

(2 hours)

Q&A

Growth Hacking Questions & Answers

(15 min)

Networking to develop your pro-growth network

Growth Hacking is een marketing techniek die is ontwikkeld voor technologie startups die creativiteit, analytisch denken, en sociale statistieken gebruiken om producten te verkopen en exposure te krijgen. Het kan worden gezien als onderdeel van de online marketing ecosysteem, zoals in veel gevallen de groei bevorderd wordt met behulp van technieken zoals zoekmachine optimalisatie, website analytics, content marketing en A / B testen. Growth Hackers richten zich vooral op low-cost en innovatieve alternatieven voor de traditionele marketing, door bijvoorbeeld gebruik te maken van sociale media en virale marketing in plaats van het kopen van reclame via de meer traditionele media zoals radio, krant en televisie. Bedrijven als Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Airbnb en Dropbox gebruiken Growth Hacking technieken.

Sean Ellis bedacht de term “Growth Hacker” in 2010. In zijn blogpost, definieerde hij een Growth Hacker als; “A person whose true north is growth. Everything they do is scrutinized by its potential impact on scalable growth.” Andrew Chen introduceerde de term voor een breder publiek in een blogpost met de titel,” Growth Hacker is de nieuwe VP Marketing “, waarin hij de term definieerde en hij de integratie van Craigslist in het korte termijn vakantiewoningplatform Airbnb als voorbeeld gebruikte . Hij schreef dat de Growth Hackers “zijn een hybride van marketeer en programmeur, iemand die de traditionele vraag ‘Hoe krijg ik klanten voor mijn product?’ beantwoord met A / B-testen, landingspagina’s, virale factor, e-mail deliverability en Open Graph. ” In 2012, Aaron Ginn definieerde een Growth  Hacker op TechCrunch als een ” mentaliteit van data, creativiteit en nieuwsgierigheid . ”

BOEKINGEN EN GEDETAILLEERD PROGRAMMA

www.growthmasterclass.eu

New Accelerator in The Hague focuses on entrepreneurs from Developing Countries

How to put a good and innovative idea into practice? Ten entrepreneurs from all over the world gathered this week at the New World Campus in The Hague. They are the happy few, selected by the iMPACT Booster, to work out their innovation in the next half year. This Wednesday they met   their Dutch mentors, who will guide them through the whole process.

Impact Booster is a cooperation of ICCO Cooperation, New World Campus, Woord & Daad, 1%Club, Wild Geese foundation and Nyenrode Business School. They teamed up to start Impact Booster, which provides expertise, hands-on support and connections to accelerate businesses with entering emerging economies. Together they connect impact capital with impact ideas to make an impact in emerging economies.

275 entrepreneurs applied from 24 countries. Only nine where selected to participate. The selection committee exists of among others Doekle Terpstra en Ruerd Ruben of the Wageningen University: “We could notice an impressive energy and creativity in many proposals, and a strong personal drive that characterizes emerging entrepreneurship.”

In a journey of five months the entrepreneurs prepare a market launch and build up a network of customers and business partners in the country they want to work. The entrepreneurs receive support from mentors and experts from relevant organizations, receive trainings, an investment of 10,000 euros and airfares. Business Model Inc., producer of the book Business Model Generation provides one of the master classes on business model innovation: “We are convinced that social entrepreneurship is the future. With our strategy design and business model innovation methodology, we help organizations to design validated and future-proof business models.” At the end of the five months period, on June 30, the entrepreneurs pitch their idea to a group of interested impact investors on Demo Day.

Rashmi Sawant started Culture Aangan, a small travel agency focusing on smallholder farmers living in India. “They live in villages, with beautiful and fertile ground all around them. But the villages are abandoned because almost all men work in the city, leaving the women, children and older people behind. These women have to take care of the household and family farmland. We teach them about hospitality.” But the iMPACT Booster has a strong focus on food security where does that come in? “By raising awareness that they should not sell their family ground to large companies, but keep the ground in order to grow food for their family.  Sawant hopes to get guidance on strategy and finding new markets for her tourist initiative in order to scale up. Right now we have about 20 farmers involved in the project, but if we for instance can find interest from the European market I would like to scale up our business.”

Making healthy pasta from green bananas, that’s what Sean Patrick from Uganda does. He is enthusiastic about being part of the iMPACT Booster: “With my company I want to show the world that Africa produces healthy food and has innovative entrepreneurs. There is in Europe a growing demand for healthy and gluten free food. My banana pasta fits to that need. I expect that I have at the end of iMPACT booster boot camp a clear and concise business case, attractive for investors and the European market.”  And how does this support the local farmers and food security?  “The banana pasta creates many advantages for the smallholders: direct access to the market, greater market share, simple technology, jobs. It’s a product to be proud of.”

The candidates will have an intensive month working out their idea with their mentors in the Netherlands.  And if needed, they can consult coaches about specific subjects like funding and public relations. After the ‘Dutch’ pressure cooker they go into the field to validate their cases, where they will get business development support from ICCO and Woord en Daad.

For the next Demo Day or applying for the next batch: www.impactbooster.com

Hoe zet je een Seed Accelerator programma op?

Waarom ga je naar een (seed-) Accelerator?

Deze bedrijven helpen start-ups succesvol te worden

* De 5 genoemde accelerator programma’s van Nederlandse origine

Startupbootcamp, Rockstart , World Startup Factory, WHEEL Accelerator, Climate KIC accelerator

** De ‘Traditionele’ of ‘Growth’ Accelerators …

richten zich op de groeifase van een bedrijf, de ‘Nieuwe’ of ‘Seed’ Accelerators richten zich op het internationaal schaalbaar maken van startups. Daarmee zitten (Seed) Accelerators dichter op de activiteiten van Business Incubators. Voorbeelden van Nederlandse groeiprogramma’s zijn: EO Accelerator, Venture Lab en Groeiversneller

Incubator manager gezocht voor event in Algerije

Op 16 april organiseert de Nederlandse ambassade in Algerije samen met de ESAA business school een middag voor studenten en ondernemers rond het thema ‘hoe de moeilijkheden van startups te overwinnen’ in Algiers . De ambassade doet een beroep op DIA om te helpen een incubator manager te vinden die bereid is om zijn of haar ervaring met het helpen van startups te delen met het Algerijnse publiek. Voor dit programma word samengewerkt met TEDxBinnenhof. Hieronder vind u een concept programma.

Wie is bereid onze ambassade te helpen? Het is wel zaak dat je de Franse of Arabische taal beheerst. Meer weten? Bel even met de voorzitter Pim de Bokx (06-54 247 268)

 

Programme du salon TEDxBINNENHOF du 16 avril 2016 à 14h à l’ESAA

14.00 -14.10	1) Opening word by ESAA Director as a host and why it matters for a business school to host such an event 2) Opening speech by Ambassador or Plv CdP : Explaining why it matters for the Embassy to organize such an event with such speakers.
14.10-14.15	Opening speech moderator
14.15 -14.30	Video messages of 2 entrepreneurs with innovative ideas presented at TEDxBinnenhof (15min) (Ideas presented on these talks should reflect a topic of local interest OR of interest to the Embassy focus themes (sustainable energy, maritime transport, agro-business and health)
14.30- 15.15	Moderator interviews 2 Algeria based entrepreneurs of firms with links to the Netherlands (Agriprom, Alwin) about what they would like to give as messages to Algerian youth interested in starting a business.  Including 10 m. Q and A with the audience.
15.15-15.45	Coffee break and music
15.45- 16.05	Moderator interviews two Algerian business startups about problems encountered in setting up their business and the importance of being accompanied as well as the support received by PUM.
16.05- 16.45	Panel discussion. Ansej, Business wise, PUM, Dutch based business incubator on the importance of accompanying business startups.  5 minutes for each to make the main points. Discussion 10 minutes. 10 m. Q and A with the audience.
16.45-17.15	Cocktail and music