What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!
News & Updates
Sprout Challenger 2017 winner: SciSports
The sports analytics startup SciSports is Sprout Challenger 50 challenger of 2017. Founded in 2013 by Giel Brouwer SciSports measures the qualities of football players and provides the data to football clubs.
Flower-startup Bloomon opens pop-up stores in Hudson’s Bay
The Flower as a Service startup Bloomon has joined forces with the in the Netherlands newly established Hudson Bay. Bloomon will open stores in Hudson Bay’s department stores in Amsterdam, Rotterdam en Maastricht. The two companies partner to deliver an ‘inspiring lifestyle experience’ to the customers of the store (in Dutch).
Funding
Robo-falcon creator Clear Flight Solutions raises €2.6M from AERIUM Analytics
Enschede-based startup Clear Flight Solutions has raised €2.6 million from AERIUM Analytics Inc. and existing investor Cottonwood Euro Technology Fund. This investment, the first close of a Series B investment of €6 million will be partly used to boost the company’s expansion in North America. The startup states that significant investments will also be made to further the development of the Robird 3.0, a fully autonomous version of the well-known robotic bird called Robird, the company’s backbone product line.
Bundles raises 600.000 from impact investors
The ‘everything as a service’ startup has raised € 600.000 from group of impact investors, among which Anne-Marie Rakhorst van onder andere duurzaamheid.nl, which is a online community for people concerned with sustainability. Bundles will use the capital raised to build a platform ‘stuff’ as a service.
Monday Read
What’s It Like to Run a Tech Startup in 2017? Here’s What 860+ Founders Had to Say
Here is an interesting survey carried out by the team behind First Round Review. The goal of the survey is to get an insight to what startup founders think, feel, fear, and value. Although the survey is carried under solely US entrepreneurs I am sure there are lot of similarities with the Dutch and European startup scenes. Th survey gives us at least some material to start the discussion here. For instance about whether there is a difference between how men and women think on how sexual harassment problems should be solved.
Internationalise or be wiped away
Although, that’s the thesis of Dutch Basecamp director Isabel Brouwer. “Internationalizing is the next thing which we should learn and monitor in The Netherlands, says Brouwer in this StartupJuncture interview. Brouwer: “Look at Coolblue and Bol.com, if Amazon ever decides to capture the Dutch market, they will be gone in seconds.” According to Brouwer Dutch companies need to grow in and outside of Europe in order to stay active worldwide. What do you think? Is Amazon a nice buyer for Coolblue, or a threat?
Photo by Ruben Leija on Unsplash