What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!
News & Updates
Robovalley and YES!DELFT organise first European Robotics & AI accelerator
In April 2018, RoboValley and YES!Delft will organise the first European Robotics & Artificial Intelligence (AI) Accelerator Programme. The Robotics & AI Accelerator is a two month pressure cooker for business professionals, students, PhDs, engineers and scientists in the field of robotics and AI who want to test the commercial feasibility of their ideas.
Delft Nuna Solar team wins for the 7th time World Solar Challenge
The raceteam of Delft University of Technology has won for the 7th time the World Solar Challenge, out of the nine times that it participated in the race. The other two times it became second. The Nuna 8S covered a distance of 3000 km in four days and 6 hours. Fun fact: a few days later, students from the Eindhoven University of Technology won the World Solar Challenge in the category Cruiser.
Funding
GitLab raises $20M Series C, adds Matt Mullenweg to board
Utrecht-founded startup Gitlab, a collaboration and DevOps platform, has raised a $20 million Series C round led by GV, the venture arm of Alphabet. Founded in Utrecht in 2014 by Sytse Sijbrandij and Dmitriy Zaporozhets Gitlab has also added the famed founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, to its board. Sijbrandij about the funding: “With this funding, the support of our new board members and the day to day talent of our expanded leadership team, GitLab will become the first solution that supports the complete DevOps lifecycle.”
VIBES receives 300.000 from UNIIQ for POC
Delft-based software startup has received 300.000 euro from the proof-of-concept fund UNIIQ. The investment will enable the startup to validate its technology. Technology that helps manufacturers of cars and other products detect and eliminate vibrations and noise at an early stage in the design process.
Monday Read
Why The Netherlands is poised to win the battle for creating the future of transport
After two out of three technology universities in the Netherlands, TUE and TUD winning the world solar car challenges in different categories this might not seem as a surprise anymore. So forget Elon Musk. Here are a few more reasons why this little country – which in this regard is a good thing – is ‘single-handedly inventing the future of transportation’.
Microsoft Ventures and partners launch USD 3.5 mln AI startup contest
If you’re active in AI, this might be interesting. The contest, dubbed Innovate.AI, comes with USD 3.5 million in total venture funding, including USD 1 million in funding to one startup per region (USA, Europe, Israel) and an additional USD 500,000 ‘AI for Good’ prize for the applicant that best uses AI to better society. All four winners will also be awarded USD 500,000 each in Azure credits.
Photo by Romain Peli on Unsplash