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Dutch Startup News Update: ASIF, Felyx, EWM and Organic Food Against Climate Change

What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!

News & Updates

Amsterdam gets its own student investment fund: ASIF

Following the example of Twente’s Dutch Student Investment Fund, Amsterdam will get as of September 1 its own student-run venture capital fund. Called Amsterdam Student Investment Fund (ASIF), the micro investment firm aims to raise a first fund of one million euro and fund three or four Amsterdam-based startups via convertible notes.  Students that want to run the firm as a board member can still apply.

Delft-based startup Elemental Water Makers wins Global Water Award 

Elemental Water Makers or EWM for short has won the first prize of the Global Water Award in the category Innovative Projects Award. Quit a feat, considering that 138 projects from 43 countries competed for the spot of the best innovative solution for the problem of water scarcity in the world. The award was launched by UAE vicepresident Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. EWM was not the only Dutch organisation to win an award. The research organisation TNO won the first prize in the category Innovative Research and Development Award. Read here an earlier StartupJuncture interview with EWM co-founder Sid Vollebregt.

Wessanen and Impact Hub launch organic food accelerator against climate change

Organic food company Wessanen and the Impact Hub in Amsterdam have joined forces in creating the ‘Organic Food Against Climate Change’ challenge. In the last few months 11 startups have been selected to go through the accelerator program. While developing their solutions participants were required to focus one of the following matters:

The winner of the program will be announced at the end of June and will be rewarded with € 10,000, additional management guidance and access to Wessanen’s network.

Funding

Flytxt Raises $11 million to accelerate growth

Nieuwegein-based customer data analytics company Flytxt has raised $11 million from the German DAH Beteiligungs, a company related to the investment arm of SAP founder, Dietmar Hopp. The company plans to invest the capital raised in product development and to further its growth in the telecom industry and other verticals.

Felyx raises €850.000 to bring shared scooters to Amsterdam

The sharing economy, crowdfunding and the renewed enthusiasm for electrical vehicles have nicely coalesced into the formation of startup Felyx. A company that intends to bring shared electric scooters to the city of Amsterdam. Felyx has raised a total of 850.000 euro from informal investors (€400.000) and an ongoing crowd funding (€450.000) campaign.

Online casting platform iCasting raises one million euro to disrupt casting industry

Casting startup iCasting from the Dutch city of Zwolle raised one million euro last week. The company that delivers al kinds of performers in the entertainment industry such as actors, models, extra’s, singers and dancers intends to use the new capital infusion for further growth. The investment comes from the founders of the company and an undisclosed angel investor. The newly appointed CEO, Esmée Pater aims to disrupt the casting industry with the company’s advanced matching technology.

RTL Ventures €3 million euro in luxury home and interior design retail platform Flinders

Stores, apps, cafe’s and advisors on demand that visit your home to give you interior design advise. The retail platform Flinders uses all means necessary to lure in the wealthy to buy luxury design labels like Kartell and Copenhagen. As one of the fastest growing companies in the Netherlands it plans to use the capital raised to add 3D and AR to it’s product offering, besides growing the team expanding its product pipeline.

Monday Morning Read

Giant companies that won’t buy your startup

You can’t outsource innovation. That’s the thesis of Cruncbase reporter Joanna Glasner in this article. To support this thesis she used Crunchbase data to help assemble a list of the least acquisitive large-cap companies. Glasner concludes: “The resultant list shows that many companies with reputations as innovators actually don’t do much M&A.” Mentioning Netflix, Nvidia, Texas Instruments and few more. I love Netflix as an innovator. Too many corporates jump too earlier on the startup cooperation bandwagon, but as always, the truth lies somewhere in between. For Alphabet M&A has worked out fine for instance.

How to disagree

Most people that have been in in startup land for a few years have most probably come across this article of Paul Graham. If you have, I am sure you will love to read it again. If you haven’t now it’s the time to read this article on how to disagree and more importantly communicating well.

Photo Credit: Frank Mckenna

Samir Saberi
Entrepreneur | Co-founder @StartupsAnoniem, @StartupJuncture | Partner @StartupDelta | Node1| Tech Blogger| Samir is interested in and loves to work with crazy, dissident, rebel startups that challenge the status quo to make things better. Drop him a line at samir[at]startupjuncture[.]com

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