What happens in the startup scene in The Netherlands right now? Find out in another Dutch startup news update!
News & Updates
Bitsensor wins Computable Startup Award
Cyber security startup Bitsensor has won the startup of the year award at the 2017 Computable Awards. BitSensor provides real-time alerting and automated first response mitigation that enables security teams to prevent data breaches. In this interview the founders of BitSensor explain why they started Bitsensor and how the platform works.
Bundles goes Coffee as a Service
The ‘everything subscription’ startup Bundles that started out by flipping the business model for washing machines from one-off sales to one where people lease the washing machine now goes into coffee. For 35 cent per cup of coffee you can now subscribe to your Coffee as a Service solution. Together with coffee brand Moyee Bundels will deliver you the coffee machine and the coffee beans and charge the coffee you drank afterwords (in Dutch).
Funding
Guts raises millions via ICO after legislation fails to halt ‘scalpers’
The entertainment industry is a big industry. This is specially the case for so-called ‘scalpers’ that do not add any value, but actually distort the market by buying in bulk for instance concert tickets and resell for up to 10x the original ticket price, with no revenue being passed back to the promoters and artists. To halt this practice a law that entailed a price-cap for secondary market trading failed to get pass the Dutch senate last week. Perfect on time, Guts launched it ICO right at the time the news broke out that the law wouldn’t go into effect. The startup raised already 2.1 million euro through its ICO and plans to raise another 17 million in a second ICO on November 15.
Fashion startup United Wardrobe raises €1 million from Peak Capital
Utrecht-based startup United Wardrobe has raised 1 million euro from Peak Capital. The online marketplace for clothes has amassed 400.000 monthly active users. Currently United Wardrobe is the largest marketplace of its kind in the Netherlands en Belgium. The startup will use the capital raised to expand internationally. “France looks very promising”, says Thijs Verheul to Startupjuncture about the company’s internationalisation plan.
Car sharing startup Amber Mobility raises €500K from prominent investor
Eindhoven-based startup Amber Mobility has raised 500.000 euro from a group of informal investors in a round led by Jan Scholt. A part of the funding also comes from subsidies. Scholt, a well-known investor from the Brabant region and founder of Scholt Energy Control, plans to lead the Series A round as well.
Monday Read
TU Delft researchers build self-folding tulips
Researchers at TU Delft have combined origami techniques and 3D printing to create flat structures that can fold themselves into 3D structures. For example a tulip. The structures self-fold according to a pre-planned sequence, with some parts folding sooner than others. Usually, expensive printers and special materials are needed for that. But the TU Delft scientists have created a new technique that requires only a common 3D printer and ubiquitous material. Among other applications, their research has the potential to greatly improve bone implants.
The EU is to invest €30 billion in more breakthrough and market-creating innovations
The European Commission has announced how it will spend €30 billion of the EU research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020 during 2018-2020. Horizon 2020, the EU’s €77 billion research and innovation funding programme has previously focused more heavily on funding high-profile scientific breakthroughs. Over the next few years, the focus will shift to a fewer, but critical topics such as migration, security, climate, clean energy and digital economy with an emphasis on boosting breakthrough, market-creating innovation.
Photo by Nicholas Green on Unsplash