What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!
News & Updates
KPN acquires Dutch cybersecurity company QSight IT
Delft-based cybersecurity and cloud consultancy QSight IT has been acquired by telecom firm KPN. QSight IT turnover of €50 million in 2016. Most notable investor in QSight IT was Holland Venture. “Together, we will be able to provide our customers with the full scale of products, services and consultancy necessary to ensure that they can keep their ICT networks, systems and products safe – from prevention to detection and prediction”, said the CEO of KPN, about the acquisition.
Funding
MessageBird raises $60 million series A investment
MessageBird has raised $60 million in Series A funding. The round is being led by Accel in the U.S. and London-based Atomico. The VC firm founded by Skype’s Niklas Zennström and Mattias Ljungman. The round is the largest Series A in Europe and for a graduate of the high-profile Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator.
Tesla of bicycles startup VanMoof raises €4 million to expand internationally
Amsterdam-based smart bicycles startup VanMoof has raised 4 million euro from Slingshot Capital. The capital raised will be used to further the intelligence of its singular city design bicycles and expand internationally.
Fintech startup InvoiceFinance raises €6 million to fuel growth
InvoiceFinance has raised 6 million euro from a group of investors and business angels from the financial industry and Peak Capital. The capital raised will be primarily used for further growth through investments in marketing activities and the recruitment of sales reps.
Monday Read
Why product failure is process failure
In this video Marty Cagan dissects the immensely popular ‘agile’ working process of building the right product for the right problem and why it encapsulates the root causes of product failure. The majority of corporate innovation projects and startups fail because of precisely these reasons while it’s seems like they are following the right proces. Main point and the one I want to stress is that these projects are all based on a big mess of assumptions that once leave the ‘boardroom’ into the ‘roadmap’ cannot be iterated on based on actual tests. The very thesis of agile and lean startup thinking. Watch this insightful video by Marty Cagan and learn how to build a process around product development like the really exceptionally successful companies do.