What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!
News & Updates
Our Startup-Prince Contantijn van Oranje announced last Wednesday on the populair Dutch TV Show ‘De Wereld Draait Door’ that a new edition of the StartupFest will be held September this year. It will coincide with the populair startup event in September: Amsterdam Capital Week. Last year the titan’s of the tech industry – Tim Cook, Travis Kalanic and Eric Smidt – were speakers among others. Contantijn said that just like last year high profile names will be invited as keynote speakers, hinting that one of the speakers might the founder of Alibaba – Jack Ma. The theme of the event will be a new focus on promoting the involvement of startups in tackling major global problems like climate change, health, energy etc.
Silicon Valley based insider security company Dtex Systems has set office in The Hague Security Delta. To prevent data abuse and data breaches the company has developed software to detect insider threats and infiltration from the outside. “We are also eager to work with partners and The Hague Security Delta is the perfect platform to work with governments, knowledge institutions and enterprises to build a solid foundation for the Dtex operations in the Netherlands and beyond”, said Olav van Haren, Sales Director at Dtex Systems.
Founded in 1949 Vanderlande is for a long time not a startup anymore. But we still think the recent acquisition of the company deserves some attention. Vanderlande is a global market leader in baggage handling systems for airports and with a revenue of $1.051 billion it’s the world’s fifth-largest materials handling systems supplier. Last month Toyota Industries bought Vanderlande for 1.2 billion euros.
Funding
Online supermarket Picnic raises 100 million euro
The online supermarket raised 100 million euro in growth capital from four wealthy-family funds NPM Capital, De Hoge Dennen, Hoyberg and Finci. It was founded in 2015 after two years of stealth mode development. It has seeded the development of the company in just a few cities and plans to expand throughout the country in three year with the capital raised. It’s two key value propositions are: free delivery and taking out 1 hour of your agenda to stay at home for the delivery. You can on top of that follow the driver (like with Uber) in the app and thus know up to the minute when you’re expected to open the door. It’s contending for biggest deal of the year in The Netherlands and the investment is already in the top 3 of all-time funding in Dutch startups.
BioTech startup Pluriomics raises 2.5 million euro
Dutch/Belgian biotech company Pluriomics has raised an additional 2.5 million euro in funding from Belgian VCs SFPI-FPIM and SambrInvest. The startup is a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). It uses stem cell technology, disease modelling and cell-based assays development for cardiovascular drug discovery.
Sports data startup SciSports raises 1.8 million euro
SciSports, a spin-off of the University of Twenty has raised an additional 1.8 million euro in funding for further expansion. The startup has created a tool called BallJames that gathers 3D data of football games by looking into the field of radiology to try and make football analytics better while partnering with the university’s chair of Biometric Pattern Recognition. The startup previously raised a seed round of 1.35 million euro. SciSports will invest in automating these tools for the media, gambling, and gaming industries, said founder Giels Brouwer to tech.eu.
SMART-Photonics raises 7 million in new investment round
Eindhoven-based SMART-Photonics has managed to raise seven million euro in a second round of investment. The money will be used for further growth, including through building a new plant and additional staff. The company specialises in the development and (mass) production of integrated photonic chips. These chips could eventually replace the electronic chips, because they are faster and more accurate.
Monday Morning Read
Ask a Female Engineer: How Can Managers Help Retain Technical Women on Their Team?
Here is a great Y Combinator article on why female engineers leave a company. As it should be the folks at Y Combinator asked the female engineers themselves this questions, instead an arm-chair scholar.
The Five Types of Virality
Building viral growth engines into the product experience can be a great strategy to build momentum and grow your startup. Here is a great article by Josh Elman on virality.
Photo Credit: Mario Klassen