PAVING THE WAY FOR STARTUPS

2017

Table of Content

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Foreword Special Envoy StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 One Single Hub

Case: StartupFest Europe

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 Access to Capital

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 Access to Networks / International

Case: International Missions & Tech events

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 Access to Markets

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 Access to Tech Talent & Skills

Case: Making impact

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 Access to Knowledge & Technology

About StartupDelta

Overview Dutch startup ecosystem

What’s next?

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9StartupDeltaIn the media

StartupDeltaOnline channels

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I like to claim that the The Netherlands is the ultimate ‘innovation nation’. The Dutch are always looking to challenge the status quo, searching innovative solutions to the toughest global challenges. For a country that is mostly under sea-level, innovation is an existential capability. The Netherlands literally innovated itself into existence. Today startups drive innovation. This past 18 months StartupDelta initiated together with a broad range of passionate partners and organizations numerous activities to build a stronger startup community that boost the success of startups. I am proud of all we have accomplished.

All these investments and initiatives have led to amazing results. The Netherlands is the 4th most competitive economy in the

world and the number 1 in the EU. We are the 5th most innovative country and all our universities are in the top 200 of global rankings.

2016-2017 shows we are on the right track. The number of young startup companies that grow into a scale up increased with 5.4%. Also, we have seen strong exits in biotech like Acerta Pharma 4.7billion, the IPO of Takeaway; and record series A rounds of €100 million for PicNic, €60 million for MessageBird, and € 20 million for Tiquets.

Much is achieved, but we must aim higher. In order to unlock the full potential of Dutch innovation potential and its start- and scale-ups, we need to maximize opportunities for founders to start and grow their business, have access to the best tech people, inves-tors and networks. For Dutch startups to scale internationally, we need to connect much more with the ecosystems around us and the world’s leading tech hubs.

The potential of a massive startup and scale-up boom is looming with so many break-through technologies waiting to be commer-cially deployed. This is truly an exciting time. Together with all our partners, StartupDelta will continue to improve our startup ecosys-tem and pave the way for our entrepreneurs and boost their success.

Amsterdam, January 2018

Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy

But we can and should always better our best.

Results | StartupDelta 2.0

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FOREWORD by Special Envoy Prince Constatijn van Oranje

ABOUTStartupDelta StartupDelta is an independent public-private partnership. Together with the main innovation hubs in the Netherlands, the team works with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Education Culture and Science, and Foreign Affairs, the startup community, and other partners to eliminate obstacles for all startups while accelerating and connecting the startup ecosystem. StartupDelta consists of a small team led by Special Envoy HRH Prince Constantijn.

Our visionWe believe in the added value of strength-ening, connecting and growing the thriving startup ecosystem of the Netherlands. We see the Netherlands as the best possible place for starting, growing and international-izing business, and as a gateway to the rest of Europe.

Our missionWith our unique connection to all layers of government, corporations and the main innovation hubs, we aim to merge the Dutch startup ecosystem into one single connect-ed hub. We break down barriers and im-prove access to talent, capital, networks, knowledge and markets.

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017The core team, innovation hubs, and part-ners have taken the lead on specific actions right where it is needed; for the ecosystem, with the ecosystem: one single hub, access to capital, access to networks, access to markets, access to tech talent & skills, access to knowledge & technology.

Additionally, we actively support initiatives of other stakeholders to be more effective in expanding and strengthening the eco-system.

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Magazine, Slash Magazine, Binnenlands Bestuur, EZ in beeld, The Next Web, Entrepreneur, BuzzFeed and NRC.

Also the Envoy appeared in various Dutch television programmes Jinek, WNL, RTL Z, Brandpunt, and DWDD. Often bringing entrepreneurs and startups to showcase their breakthrough technologies and innova-tions.

Overview Dutch startup ecosystemOur vibrant Dutch startup ecosystem is the result of the hard work, energy and initiatives of all Dutch startup ecosystem players:

startups, corporate innovators, investors, policymakers, scientists and regional startup hubs.

The work, mission and events of StartupDelta and were intensively followed by the media, often in relationship to subjects such as inno-vation, knowledge transfer and the investor and startup climate in the Netherlands.

International events initiated or organised by StartupDelta (StartupFest Europe, CapitalFest and CES Unveiled Amsterdam)attracted a lot of international media attention. Ranging from German en US-techblogs to items on the national Dutch television.

The Special Envoy has been emphasising the work of StartupDelta and the need of a connected one single hub interviews with Elsevier, Financieel Dagblad, (Financiële) Telegraaf, BNR Nieuwsradio, ICT & Health

StartupDelta – In the media

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StartupDelta - Online channelsStartupDelta built a large and active social media community connecting all relevant players in the startup ecosystem via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn channels.

StartupDelta was covered by a large variety of news sites. To name a few: MT.nl, RTL Z, The Innovator, Silicon Canals, Business Wire, Yahoo Finance, elEconomista.es, and Metropolis.

As a result of the communication strategy of StartupDelta, the total number of followers on Twitter rose from 10.8k at the beginning of July 2016 to 15.1k end of 2017. In total over 22 million Twitter impressions were viewed (August ‘16 - December ‘17).

StartupFest Europe was a good example of how we engaged our ecosystem over a six months period of time.

Number of impressions

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Engagement (likes, retweets, sharen)

Results | StartupDelta 2.0

191.955Twitter

2.809.539Facebook

100.090Linkedin

5745Twitter

12.479Facebook

1389Linkedin

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StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 -One Single HubTogether with the innovation hubs, StartupDelta created synergy between the regional startup initiatives by promoting a One Single Hub mindset. Each regional partner contrib-uted with its own specialty or local stronghold. StartupDelta website was repositioned as a portal for the whole startup and scale-up ecosystem.

StartupDelta developed and executed a communication strategy to strengthen the inter-national reputation of the Dutch tech and startup scene. Together with regional hub part-ners, StartupDelta organized a series of events where all relevant ecosystem players came together and showcased the vibrant and innovative Dutch startups ecosystem to interna-tional stakeholders.

A few highlights:

StartupDelta contributed to the launch

of several regional startup hubs among which

StartupUtrecht, Founded in

Groningen and StartupGelderland.

‘How to Get There Summit’ was

organized together with all ecosystem part-

ners. This grand innovation event

mobilized corporates, startups and

innovation hubs to innovate faster

together as a ‘single hub’.

A StartupDelta Manifest with 11 points

of improvement for startup policy was pub-

lished in anticipation of the 2017 elections.

An election debate was held with the

largest political parties in the Netherlands to

discuss the representation of interests of

startups in the coalition agreement.

StartupDelta webportal was designed and

developed by Pronamic and Studio Black.

The content was generated by a coalition of

ecosystem partners.

Read more about all our initiatives and results

Case: Startup Fest EuropeStartupFest Europe is a festival of events that helps startups grow faster by bringing to-gether founders, investors, business leaders and developers around specific themes. The events were organized all around The Netherlands from September 25 - 28 and fueled by a coalition of partners under leadership of StartupDelta.

The focus of the events were:

Raise money: 1-on-1 meetings with investors. Connecting startups to 300+

top tier investors.

Connect to industry leaders: Meetups with

European business leaders, an opportunity

for startups to connect to international

launching customers

Be inspired: International top speakers like

Werner Vogels (Amazon), Slava Rubin

(Indiegogo) and Dan Barry (NASA

astronaut) took the stage

The events:New materials: Building a sustainable world.Medtech & Digital Health: Proving high quality healthcare, accessible for all. Impact Fest: Doing Business by Doing Good. CapitalFest: Connecting Founders and funders. Blockchain: Co-create next ops system for society. Fintech & Security: Opportunities & trust in digital services. Energy Fest: Together we drive the energy future. New Industries: Smart industry for greater good of society using IoT, big data, robotics

RESULTSMore than a 1000 startups connected to more than 500 investors and 550 corporate innovators. Hundreds of 1-on-1 meetings, round tables and workshops were organized facilitating the matchmaking between founders, funders and corporates.

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StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 – Access to CapitalStartupDelta set out to improve and simplify existing public-private investment, lending and subsidy programs. It helped to create a competitive fiscal climate for investing in startups in the Netherlands. Overall time to fund was reduced by creating a more efficient marketplace for investors. The role of public funding in Europe has made possible the ensuring of sufficient capital availability in the early and growth stages. As a result, more private investments are brought into VC funds and innovative tech companies.

StartupDelta also saw an opportunity to create a pool of smart funding for the early stages of academic startups. StartupDelta supported ecosystem players by connecting the inves-tor community and universities resulting in a 30% increase in investments in early stage academic startups and a 30% increase in follow up investments.

Finally StartupDelta and the NFIA collaborated to attract top tier VC funds to the Nether-lands.

A few highlights:

Together with various stakeholders, Startup-

Delta developed a Startup Funding Canvas

website to help startups come to a finance

strategy and enhance their proposals towards

investors.

StartupDelta initiated a discussion between

the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate

Policy, the Regional Development Corpora-

tions (ROM’s), and private investors regarding

optimizing the role of the ROM’s in the

investment climate in the Netherlands.

StartupFest Europe and CapitalFest: during

these events over 150 international investors

came to the Netherlands.

A whitepaper on the ‘strengths and weak-

nesses of the Dutch financial climate for

startups’ was produced by the Rebel Group,

based on a round table session with startups,

informal investors, VC’s and regional invest-

ment companies.

Read more about all our initiatives and results

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 – Access to Networks / InternationalStartupDelta facilitated the international expansion of Dutch startups by organizing inter-national missions to important tech hubs. These missions were organized in cooperation with corporate partners, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the larger missions such as to the CES in Las Vegas, an extensive prep program was developed so that startups could benefit maximally from the mission. In addition, a community of proactive ‘startup diplomats’ at embassies and consulates in priority countries raised the profile of StartupDelta in the worldwide embassy network.

Finally StartupDelta participated in and contributed to relevant international startup networks to raise the Dutch profile. Moreover, StartupDelta has actively participated in the European Startup Network to support EU Policy makers to complete the European single market and to stand up for the European right of access to open markets (issues such as VAT, copyright, data protection, patent law).

A few highlights:

The existing Orange Carpet has been im-

proved. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency

has created an ‘National Point of Entry’: a

first personal point of contact for all foreign

people/organizations with questions regard-

ing the Dutch ecosystem.

Since the introduction of the Dutch Startup

Visa in 2015, over 100 residence permits for

starting entrepreneurs have been issued. In

2017, the demand for a startup visa grew

exponentially, and more positive recommen-

dations have been given than all previous

years combined. This is partially due to an

intensive cooperation between the

Netherlands Enterprise Agency, StartupDelta

and the regional hubs, resulting in active

facilitators in all regions.

At the Dutch Ambassadors conference an

informative work-session was held by the

Special Envoy. In addition, the Envoy has held

a speech at the ‘economie terugkom dagen’

to the heads of the Economic departments of

the worldwide innovation attachés to inform

them on the importance and worth of start-

ups and their role in linking up the Dutch

ecosystem.

StartupDelta supported and initiated a large

number of the international startup missions.

Read more about all our initiatives and results

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Results | StartupDelta 2.0

Case: International Missions & Tech eventsStartupDelta introduced new forms of cooperation with the government, the embassy network and private parties to improve the internationalization of startups. Result: better cooperation between StartupDelta, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, private parties and the embassy network. Small pilots were initiated with startup missions (Seoul, Shanghai) as well as hosting a first big Holland Startup Pavilion at important international tech conferences. In addition to these missions, StartupDelta organized ‘corporate missions’ with Alibaba, Microsoft and Amazon.

Below the total overview of foreign missions and events (co-) organized by StartupDelta:

Presentation Special Envoy about the Euro-

pean Startup Policy to High Level Group for

Competitiveness and Growth EU - invitation

from SG Camps and chairmanship Slovakia

(July 2016)

Participation Public launch of European

Startup Network in Brussels (July 2016)

Keynote address of the Special Envoy in

Madrid at the SouthSummit (October 2016)

Participation Websummit Special Envoy:

preparatory session with participants of Web-

summit in Rotterdam, programming Holland

Corner & Matchmaking in Lisbon (November

2016)

Startup mission led by Special Envoy to Seoul:

signing of Orange Bridge MoU and launch

mentor network (November 2016)

Startup Mission led by Special Envoy to

Shanghai: bilateral conversations with Shang-

hai authorities (November 2016)

Participation in the Startup Nations Summit

Cork (November 2016)

Appearance of Special Envoy at plenary

session on stage at Slush (Finland) and

various activities and media appearances

(December 2016)

Participation in European Commission/

European CS and Workshop Data-driven

research and monitoring (December 2016)

Closing by Special Envoy of Dutch-French

economic year in Paris and launch mentor

network Paris (December 2016)

Co-organizer economic mission to CES Las

Vegas and Silicon Valley (January 2017)

Participation in the Holland Pavilion at

Mobile World Congress Barcelona (February

2017)

Kick-off Dutch program with Dutch startup

delegation at South by South West in Austin,

Texas by Special Envoy (March 2017)

Participated as partner in the E-commerce

mission by Alibaba and Rabobank in

Hangzhou,

China together with a startup delegation

(March 2017)

Startup Mission to Seattle / tech giants

Amazon & Microsoft (June 2017)

Mission Startup Envoy and delegation to

TelAviv (June 2017)

Participation Special Envoy in Conference

Aspen Institute (July 2017)

Presentation StartupDelta at High Tech

Startbahn in Dresden (October 2017)

Reception tech delegation from Saksen,

Germany (October, 2017)

Startup Fest Europe, co-organizer StartupDel-

ta and participation Special Envoy (October

2017)

CES Unveiled Amsterdam: Dutch Tech Im-

proving Our Lifes (October 2017)

Participation StartupDelta and Special Envoy

Websummit, Lisbon (November 2017)

Presentation StartupDelta at Accelerator

LeanSquare, Liège (November 2017)

Presentation StartupDelta at ITRI Meet

Taipei, Taiwan (November 2017)

Participation StartupDelta in the Startup

Nation Summit in Talinn (November 2017)

Participation StartupDelta in the Internation-

al Mayors Summit and Kick-Off of the Startup

Nations network in Kiev (November 2017)

Participation StartupDelta and Special Envoy

Slush, Helsinki (November 2017)

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Chronologic overview:

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Results | StartupDelta 2.0

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 – Access to MarketsIn order to improve access to markets for startups, StartupDelta aimed to open up public pro-curement to startups. The government and StartupDelta worked together to launch and stimu-late innovative public procurement programs and methods, e.g. SBIR, Startup in Residence. StartupDelta has formed a coalition of government departments and municipalities and togeth-er launched new testing models so that startups could more easily participate in innovative procurement and tendering.

Another issue startups face is accessing and connecting with corporates. StartupDelta set out to fix this disconnect through existing initiatives such as COSTA, Techilicious, Corporate Launchpad, Tekdelta and the How to Get There Summit. By exploring opportunities in innova-tive matchmaking concepts, StartupDelta aimed to stimulate business deals between startups and corporates.

Finally, StartupDelta stimulated the government to create sandboxes for new business models stimulating startups to access European markets.

A few highlights:

The COSTA program (under the direction of Jan

Kees de Jager) has successfully completed and

delivered a ‘Startup readiness assessment’ tool. The tool is promoted by StartupDelta via

var-

ious channels and published on its web portal.

Government as launching customer for start-

ups: startups have been informed about the

possibilities that lie with government organiza-

tions and were introduced to relevant parties.

In addition, informative sessions for govern-

ment organizations have been reintroduced,

where the focus was put on the role of

government as potential customer.

To bridge to pre-commercialization gap for

startups, StartupDelta stimulated the roll out of

governmental programs and initiatives acting as

testbed and procuring innovative goods and

services: Small Business Innovation Research,

Startup in Residence, the Fast Track Program of

the Ministry of Health and Mobility Labs in

Rotterdam and North-Brabant.

StartupDelta has formed (corporate) partner-

ships with: AkzoNobel, Deloitte, ING,

Rabobank, Amazon, Ziggo, Booking.com,

Liberty Global.

Read more about all our initiatives and results

Source: State of tech Report 2017

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 – Access to Tech Talent & SkillsOne of the bigger challenges for the Dutch startup ecosystem and economy is the growing shortage in tech talent and skills. The European tech industry is creating jobs faster than the rest of the European economy. The shortage in skilled workers means this gap is growing.

StartupDelta connected ecosystem players to bridge this gap, for instance by sharing best practices of B. Startup School Amsterdam, a successful approach to retrain high skilled, unemployed workers in becoming front-end and back-end developers.

Tech industry workforce growth versus forecast EU employment growth, 2017 versus 2016

Tech workforce growth YoY

% g

row

th Y

oY

2,5

2

1,5

1

0,5

0

2,6

2017 2016

2,1

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Also StartupDelta set out to promote entrepreneurship in education by launching the Startup24 initiative in the major student cities. In addition, StartupDelta initiated pilots for an entrepreneurial master, together with the Hanzehogeschool and the University of Groningen.

Finally, StartupDelta believes coding should get a more prominent place in education. The access to coding classes in primary and secondary education and afterschool activities like Coderdojo is improved by promoting CodePact, FutureNL, and maker education. Startup-Delta initiated the ‘DigiDeal’ in the city of Groningen. More than 20 schools, from primary school to universities, have committed themselves to make an extra effort to implement digital skills in their educational programs. This approach can serve as an examples to other cities.

A few highlights:

Preparing two pilots (executed in 2018) with an

entrepreneurial master will take place at the

Hanzehogeschool and the University of

Groningen offering master students the

opportunity to combine course content with

entrepreneurial skills and setting up one’s

own company. This pilot is run in cooperation

with the NVAO and VSNU.

Startup24: boost interest in choosing of a

minor or courses in entrepreneurship. The

newly appointed minister of Education, Ingrid

van Engelshoven, attended the opening cere-

mony and stressed the importance of entrepre-

neurship in education: 400 bachelor students in

6 cities participated

StartupDelta has played a coordinating role in

bringing together companies, municipalities and

educational institutions to tackle the challenge

of shortage in tech talent.

Read more about all our initiatives and results

CASE: MAKING IMPACTStartup Solutions Sint MaartenAfter hurricane Irma hit Sint Maarten and left a path of devastation, the initiative of ‘Start-up Solutions for Sint Maarten’ was called to life. In order to speed up the rebuild of the island, in October of 2017 various parties; the Dutch National Coordinator for Reconstruc-tion, the Netherlands Red Cross, and the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Additionally, organi-zations that are specialized in humanitarian innovation are involved, such as Open House, DCHI (Dutch Coalition for Humanitarian Innovation), and ImpactCity together with Start-upDelta have come together to set up this initiative.

Startup Solutions for Sint Maarten was launched at ImpactFest in on 26 September. The initiative called on startups to volunteer their thoughts on the reconstruction of Sint Maarten. We were overwhelmed by the massive response from the startup community that followed the launch.

On Wednesday 6 September, hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, ripped through Sint Maarten and caused unimaginable damage. Lives were lost and 91% of the buildings suffered damage of which one third is completely destroyed.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence and humanitarian organisations like the Nether-lands Red Cross are working hard to provide humanitarian assistance. Considering the current needs, full recovery of Sint Maarten will take years.

And that’s where we need your help. We need startups with:

smart energy solutionssmart shelter solutionseconomic security solutions (FinTech)waste solutions

In short: we need great Startup Solutions for Sint Maarten!

Are you (or do you know) a startup with an innovative solution that may help speed up recovery on Sint Maarten and can truly improve the lives of the most vulnerable people? Please leave your name, contact info and a short company description online at www.startupdelta.org/sintmaarten or on the back of this leafl et.This autumn, once the detailed recovery assessment results are available through the Netherlands Red Cross, we will go through a selection process and aim to work with the most promising startups that can

really contribute to the recovery in Sint Maarten.

Selected startups will be introduced to the Netherlands Red Cross and the Ministries of Defence and Internal Affairs and go through a simulation and acceleration process. During this process selected startups will have an opportunity to work with humanitarian actors to develop smart solutions with an aim to deploy most relevant solutions during the recovery in Sint Maarten.

THANK YOU!

LET’S HELP LET’S KICKSTART SINT MAARTEN

www.startup-delta.org/sintmaarten

LET’S HELP LET’S KICKSTART SINT MAARTEN

In cooperation with:

Suggested company:

Don’t know any relevant startups, but still want to help? Donate at www.rodekruis.nl

Type of solution:

Contact person:

e-mail:

Own company:

Type of solution:

Contact person:

e-mail:

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Results | StartupDelta 2.0

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Main goal of this project was to create an ecosystem in which entrepreneurship and inno-vation commence, and with which the circular economy and employment opportunities are boosted at Sint Maarten as well. This way, we ensure that the rebuild of Sint Maarten can rely on the innovative strength of startups. The bid book for Startup Solutions for Sint Maarten has been presented to the State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops.

The bid book contains 113 startup solutions for Sint Maarten from 27 countries.

Download the Bidbook

StartupDelta Plan of Action 2017 – Access to Knowledge & TechnologyStartupDelta worked on boosting academic startups by collaborating with the Ministry of Education and Science and the VSNU to focus more on bringing technology to the market. Periodically meetups between universities, academic startups and regional startup hubs were organized. In addition, a masterclass for business developers was developed at univer-sities which could help bridge the gap in access to knowledge.

One of the major accomplishments realized by StartupDelta together with key stakeholders was the implementation of the Intellectual Property Guidelines and Shareholders for univer-sities. StartupDelta contributed to a more positive attitude towards spinouts and entrepre-neurship among board members of universities and universities of applied science.

A few highlights:

Together with the VSNU, a communal plan of

action was produced in response to the

Valorisation-letter sent to the Dutch Cabinet.

This letter consisted of concrete examples

for strengthening and broadening the KTO-

position within universities.

A White Paper about Knowledge Transfer was

written by StartupDelta. This whitepaper has

boosted the discussion on valorisation within

the Dutch universities.

StartupDelta stressed the importance of

knowledge transfer in meetings with universi-

ties, knowledge transfer offices, politicians and

in the media.

Initiating periodical meetups between

knowledge transfer officers, board members,

academic startups and investors to discuss

ways to improve knowledge transfer in The

Netherlands

Read more about all our initiatives and results

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Results | StartupDelta 2.0

What’s next?

‘Building the #1 startup ecosystem of Europe’, that is the mission for StartupDelta. Looking at the last Genome ranking, The Netherlands is doing pretty well with its 19th place. But we want to be top notch, so much more needs to done to realize our ambitions. With much energy and inspiration, together with all its partners, StartupDelta will continue to optimize the Dutch startup ecosystem to truly become Europe’s leading startup hub. The Netherlands needs a vibrant economy for future prosperity where innovative startup launch solutions for global challenges.

In the next 18 months, StartupDelta will continue to work on becoming a truly one single hub, improving the access to capital and talent, boosting the vast scientific knowledge to build new businesses, and accelerating the international scaling of our leading startups.

StartupDelta will keep you posted on the progress. Please sign up for our newsletter

We can always better our best

2017