REACH FOR THE TOP

Realise

your ambition

Venturelab helps

entrepreneurs to plan,

accelerate and

professionalise

Preface

A fantastic idea is one thing, converting this idea into a successful business requires a great deal more. A good business model, access to the right markets, adequate financing, the right contacts and the skills of the team determine success or failure for more than eighty per cent.

VentureLab exists to help entrepreneurs to fine-tune their skills. The VentureLab Business Development Programme was set up especially for this purpose. This is a one-year programme in which entrepreneurs are equipped with the right set of tools to achieve ambitions.

You receive training and will be coached, and experts are available to assist you in drawing up expansion plans. In addition, there will be a focus on personal development and teambuilding. VentureLab develops your potential enabling you to prepare your business for national or international expansion.

We will monitor progress during the programme. Business Panels will assess presentations and help the organisation to continue to develop. Moreover, VentureLab offers access to powerful business and knowledge networks and financial support. Are you looking for workspace? VentureLab also offers flexible office facilities.

It does not matter whether you are a start-up, a scale-up or have been an entrepreneur for a longer period of time. VentureLab is available for all entrepreneurs in the Northern Netherlands with expansion plans. VentureLab offers individual support to managing directors and business developers or at team level, to groups or departments within the organisation. VentureLab has developed into the most ambitious business accelerator for businesses in the Northern Netherlands and has coached, trained and supervised 500+ participants since its launch in 2009.

A convincing track record has been built comprising ambitious, innovative and high-tech businesses who make the best possible use of their expansion opportunities partly thanks to our programme. We could tell you how VentureLab has stimulated and assisted them, but we would prefer to let the entrepreneurs do the talking. They tell their success stories in this brochure. In addition, we will explain a little more about what VentureLab does and what it can mean for businesses who want to advance.

Take on the challenge with us and get in touch.

Aard Groen, Managing Director of VentureLab International and

Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Groningen (RUG).

What VentureLab does for entrepreneurs

2015 - 2018

Group 1 - 4 Investments collected

€ 7.874.000,-

45% RUG students, PhD’s and employees

18% Other

45% Health

37% Energy

232 entrepreneurs in 136 startups

successfully completed:

159 entrepreneurs in 94 startups

total number of jobs 217

Energy Health Other

1 year BusinessDevelopment ProgrammeEvery 4 months

Business Panel presentations

Accelerating plans, professionalising plans

VentureLab is available for organisations and businesses who want to advance, who want to grow, and fully utilise their potential. VentureLab offers businesses an environment in which they can find everything to be successful. An environment in which they are in continuous contact with people who can advance the business and in which participants inspire and urge each other to push the boundaries.

Any business that grows will run into business issues. VentureLab was set up as a programme to tackle expansion issues, which ambitious businesses face. With the help of a number of leading (knowledge) partners, VentureLab succeeded in putting together a high-level and high-quality programme.

Businesses who participate in the VentureLab programme will be able to benefit from an ecosystem of businesses, knowledge institutions, investors and governments, which can all contribute towards the development of the organisation. VentureLab is the connecting link and the driver of this enterprising ecosystem.

Rapidly growing businesses set the pace in a vital economy. They are innovative and the source of new products, services, and processes. They create new jobs and attract other businesses. They boost the knowledge level of the network of which they form part. They are therefore of great importance for the region in which they are active.

Accelerator for businesses who want to advance

VentureLab

starts the business

development programme

with a new group of

participants three

times a year

Introduction

Do you want to know more? Visit venturelabinternational.com/north

What does

VentureLab offer?

One-year Individual

and Business Development Programme

Intensive coaching and

supervision of the participant by a personal coach and expert coaching

Knowledge transfer, training and

supervision in the fields of strategy, financing, marketing and sales, technology and organisation

Personal development and team development

Investor Readiness Programme to improve access to financing

and potential clients

Access to (international) networks

and relations with potential partners, clients and financers

Flexible workplaces, meeting rooms and access to research

databases

VentureClasses and other freely

accessible periodical network meetings with inspiring speakers

A stimulating and motivating

ecosystem of partner organisations

Specialisations in energy, IT, health and biobased

activities

Four-monthly monitoring of progress via Business

Panel presentations

Plenty of scope to design a tailor-made programme

VentureLab Management SystemWe use Golden Egg Check software, an online investor readiness system.

This software is also used as a communication and business

development tool, for example tracking the scores of the Business

Panel presentations.

The Business Development ProgrammeThe Business Development Programme is at the heart of VentureLab. It is a practice-oriented programme based on scientific knowledge. The programme is based on the model that was developed by Professor Aard Groen, Professor of Entrepreneurship & Valorisation at the University of Groningen and at the University of Twente.

Aard Groen came up with his model for innovative processes in organisations based on his observation that businesses with a great deal of potential do not always achieve their potential. This is often due to a one-sided focus on their specialist knowledge, as a result of which there is not enough focus on other important success factors in business. The model is intended as a business growth accelerator for knowledge-intensive start-ups and established knowledge-intensive high-tech businesses.

Aard Groen: ‘Entrepreneurship is about recognising or creating an opportunity to achieve value creation, converting this opportunity into an implementable concept and utilising this concept in an (expanding) organisation. From the earliest development phase, there should be a commitment to the accumulation of four ‘capitals’ (see box) that jointly form the ‘business capital’. This model applies to every business, regardless of the phase in which it finds itself.’

In order to optimise value creation, it is important that there is a balance between the four ‘capitals’: strategic, economic, cultural and social capital. ‘There is virtually not a single entrepreneur who is able to accumulate these capitals by themselves or keep them at constant levels,’ Aard Groen explains. ‘Building a successful business requires teamwork by an enterprising team with a wide range of qualities.’

The Business Development Programme focuses on the development of qualities that ensure rapid and sustainable growth. The programme supports entrepreneurs in the development of their qualities and teaches them to assess the value of other roles. The objective of participation in the programme is always the growth development of the business.

Strategic Capital:setting and pursuing targets and conquering a market position. It is geared towards the sale of products.

Model Business Growth Accelerator

Strategic Capital

CEO

CTO/COO

CulturalCapital

EconomicCapital

CFO

CMO

SocialCapital

VA

LU

EC

RE

AT

ION

Opportunityrecognition

Opportunitypreparation

Opportunityexploitation

CEO Chief Executive Officer

CFO Chief Financial Officer

CTO Chief Technology Officer

COO Chief Operating Officer

CMO Chief Marketing Officer

Cultural Capital: knowledge, knowhow of technological developments and organisation of patterns of effective behaviour. Cultural capital also includes communication with various target groups.

Economic Capital:financial resources, the capacity to optimise business processes, using resources efficiently.

Social Capital: interactions with the business environment, contacts and networks.

VentureLab Coaching

A personal coachThe personal coach has a central role in the VentureLab programme. A personal coach will be available for every participant. The coach will coach participants intensively for a year.

In addition, the participants can use expert coaching to gain more in-depth knowledge. The expert coach provides coaching surrounding knowledge-intensive subjects including patents and legal or financial affairs.

VentureLab Business Development The programme starts with a kick-off meeting for every participant. Coach coordinator Cees-Jan Groen will assess the requirements of a participant during this meeting. The most suitable coach will be sought based on the assessment. ‘Coaching at VentureLab is geared towards the person and the team as well as towards the business. This imposes high demands on our coaches,’ says Cees-Jan Groen.

The quality of the coaches in combination with their broad areas of knowledge creates an important added value for VentureLab, Cees-Jan Groen emphasises.

Individual interpretationA coach should not be the same type as the participant. Indeed, this will create a better match, Cees-Jan Groen knows from experience. ‘However, there should certainly be chemistry. And there may be friction from time to time.’The personal coach is available for the participant for a total of 48 hours. The participant and the coach are free to use the hours as they please: they can meet for an hour every week, one morning or afternoon every month and everything in between, depending on the needs of the participant: ‘The coach stimulates, motivates and transfers knowledge. This is how they push the entrepreneur to a higher level. The coach is available to give the entrepreneur a good feeling, but also to spur them on to action.’

‘Intensive personal coaching provides entrepreneurs with knowledge, experience and

good contacts.’

NeedsThe entrepreneur and the coach jointly assess which training courses are useful, taking into account the personal and business needs of the participant. The coach guides the entrepreneur towards VentureLab meetings where they can broaden and deepen their knowledge, can increase their network and approach investors.

Expert coachingVentureLab will conduct a search in its network for more specialist questions. Accountants, legal professionals, financial advisors or other professionals are willing to start working on these questions.The experts are part of our ecosystem, their services do not cost anything extra. VentureLab wants to stimulate entrepreneurs in their ambitions on all fronts. To this end, VentureLab not only makes knowledge and expertise available, but it also offers a variety of networks and facilities.’

VentureLab North in practice

Eight companies

tell about their plans,

about what they have

achieved, and what

VentureLab North

meant for them

A pressure cooker that prepares businesses and business plans for the market under high pressure. This is how the VentureLab programme brought the company SeaQurrent – owned by CEO and founder Youri Wentzel – considerably closer to a successful launch on the market.

Visionary, idealistic and a technical feat. The under-

water kite invented by Youri Wentzel has it all.

SeaQurrent uses the kite to generate energy from

the current of the seawater – pure, green electricity.

One kite developed by SeaQurrent has the capacity

to supply electricity for about seven hundred

households.

Living up to expectationsWentzel is currently working on the first practical

test of the SeaQurrent underwater kite on the high

seas. This will be a baptism of fire for the kite. In the

run-up to this point, the entire theoretical part has

been fully calculated, detailed cost-price analyses

have been drawn up and the operation has been

tested in lab conditions at the Maritime Institute

Netherlands (MARIN). The product has to prove itself

now. Wentzel is fully confident in this respect. ‘All

the lights are on green,’ he says.

The revolutionary kite combines Wentzel’s

passions for technology, sailing and enterprise.

‘My background is in the energy, oil and gas sector

and sailing is my hobby. During long trips, I reflected

on options to source energy from the powerful

underwater currents. I wondered why we barely

use them and how you could use them.’

seaqurrent.com

Not on your ownWentzel got in touch with VentureLab during the

development phase of the kite. He realised all too

well that all the technology and idealism fused in his

project do not guarantee commercial success. ‘We

started from technology. Dimensions such as price

and market were less of a priority. Participation in

the VentureLab programme forced us to pay more

attention to these factors.’ This resulted in the

decision to expand the SeaQurrent team, among

other things. ‘I realised you cannot run this

business on your own.’

Wentzel and his team were able to update their

knowledge of additional subjects with the help of

VentureLab. ‘The programme was broad and varied.

It made it very valuable to us. What we learned

we processed in our presentations and we used

it to improve our business plan. Our plans were

continually subject to a critical view, via the Business

Panel presentations as well as through the coaching.’

Quite a taskSure, participation in the VentureLab programme

is intensive. Wentzel followed weekly VentureLab

meetings, workshops and coaching programmes as

far as possible. ‘It was quite a task. You are in a start-

up phase, so you have to have a solid commitment

to the business. The question is whether the

investment is useful: it certainly was.’

SeaQurrent - Youri Wentzel

Pressure cooker

Canvas model‘It was very helpful to me – for example the canvas

model that served as a short checklist for your

business plan, but also the presence of all these

young, perhaps inexperienced but creative student

entrepreneurs. If I had not done these courses, I

would have encountered more unpleasant surprises.’

CTA has a test location for engines at Zernike

Campus Groningen, a hangar with two test planes

in Teuge and a dynamic aeroplane test location

at Braunschweig airport. The business itself still

consists of Cappelle and two employees.

PartnersBesides the NLR, Hanze University of Applied

Sciences and Braunschweig University of

Technology, he has found partners in the US: engine

manufacturer Lycoming and an aeroplane builder

with whom he develops the retrofit, starting with

a twin-engine Piper 44 aeroplane flying on LNG,

liquid natural gas.

By the time this is tested in 2020, at least three

million euros will have been invested. It is only

then that he can finally start earning, from issuing

licences for the technology and the fuel. But for

Cappelle it is not just about his business: ‘I actually

want to leave a cleaner aviation. I want to have

brought something about in my life.’

Clean Tech Aviation was founded in 2008 to experiment with fuels in aviation. Founder and driving force behind the business Ben Cappelle (61) was an air force officer and flight school owner himself. Cappelle believes flying can be far cleaner and cheaper.

In order to test this idea, the entrepreneur from

Marum initially experimented with biomethanol as

a fuel for an old Antonov 2, a double decker with

which he managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

TestingThis experiment alone was an enterprise in both

senses of the word: ‘A couple of investors, including

myself, invested tens of thousands of euros in the

acquisition of this plane, and in an insane way

we finally managed to get a few hundred litres of

biomethanol into Canada, from where we could

fly to Teuge Airport via Greenland, Iceland and

Scotland. The methanol mixture did not have a

negative effect on the filters for the motor fuel,

which was one of things we wanted to test. But

we had burnt our capital after this flight.’

Don’t give upThe business subsequently went into hiatus for a

couple of years, but Cappelle did not want to give

up on his ambition. ‘I love aviation, I believe the

technology is fun, but it should be sustainable.

I still wanted a cheaper and less ‘fossil’ fuel, adapt

an engine to this and get aeroplane builders to

the point where they dare to try it.’

This is where VentureLab came in. He knew pace-

setter Aard Groen from previous participation in

a VentureLab in Twente and was challenged once

again to explain his plans. He did this so well in fact

that Cappelle was offered participation in the entire

VentureLab programme for free and his business

received the incentive prize of 10,000 euros as a

finalist.

ctainnovation.com

Don’t give up on ambitions

Clean Tech Aviation - Ben Cappelle

Med-E Link came to life in 2013 in a Los Angeles children’s hospital as a legal entity for founder Rutger Flink, who was hired there for other tasks following his internship at the intensive care unit. One such task was the development of software for intensive care units.

Once he was back in the Netherlands, Flink conti-

nued to build on this plan. When it became evident

that investments were not possible contractually,

he shifted his attention to the development of

hardware: ‘I have seen the inside of quite a few

intensive care units and I know what is required.’

More accurateHis new business aims to offer more accurate IC care

with the help of sensors. At this point, it is generally

based on a blueprint of the patient, for example

based on their weight and age. By monitoring the

condition of the patient with sensors, it is possible

to include far more factors in this care.

Although his business already existed, he was cer-

tainly not an experienced entrepreneur. ‘I was still

very green in 2013 so it was fortunate that I won

my pitch in 2016 during the EIT Health VentureLab

weekend, after which I could enrol in the Venture-

Lab programme.’

Mastering commercial sideEntrepreneurship is something I have in me, but

elements such as financing, marketing, sales and

all the pitfalls this entails required more attention.

I also learned that a solid academic grounding is

favourable when presenting your plans to investors,

but mastering the commercial side is very important

as well.’

medelink.nl

According to Fink, perhaps the most important thing

is that VentureLab ensures you end up in a strong

community with a broad network. ‘It would all have

been very difficult on my own. Without VentureLab

it would have taken longer to find investors who are

interested. It has worked as an accelerator for me.’

He is still in touch with participants of his own and

subsequent groups.

SharingFlink is still in the financing phase of his business.

The development of his product is expected to take

two more years. He is fully confident that he has

found a niche in the market and is still happy with

the support he received from VentureLab.

He is doing something back in return: ‘I update

participants on all the regulations with which they

will be faced in the medical-technological sector.

I have extensive knowledge in this field. You can

develop all manner of things as a start-up, but if your

product does not pass market registrations, you will

do it for nothing. I am pleased that I can share this

knowledge with others.’

Med-E Link - Rutger Flink

Avoiding pitfalls

The business owned by Faris Nizamic and Tuan Anh Nguyen is full of potential. Yet the founders of Sustainable Buildings chose to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills. VentureLab offered a solution.

Nizamic and his partner Nguyen won the RuG

Green Mind Award twice with their business plan.

Sustainable Buildings was not exactly lacking

in expertise with its team consisting of PhDs,

professors and other clever minds. However, you

will also have to recognise your not so strong

points as an entrepreneur. Nizamic is a realist.

OptimisationNizamic and Nuygen built their business based on

the idea that software-based monitoring can opti-

mise the use of buildings. ‘Look at the amount of

energy that is wasted in buildings. Lights are turned

on for no reason, PCs are switched on unused, empty

rooms are heated. It is a problem that does not have

to exist at all.’

Using software developed by the two partners,

they managed to considerably reduce the energy

consumption of a number of university buildings

via a number of showcase projects. ‘Monitoring

and adjustment of lighting resulted in savings of

68 per cent. However, having technology alone is

not enough.’

From scratch‘We were hungry,’ says CEO Nizamic. ‘But we knew

little about business. We realised that we needed to

know how to run a business. We really started from

scratch. Without launching customers, without cash.’

Convinced of the possibilities of their software,

they found the support they sought at VentureLab.

‘We walked into Startup City to have a drink with

Aard Groen. That proved a good decision

.ValuableThe question of how we should design a business

was the very first and biggest issue we had to solve

for ourselves. The financing, marketing and design

of the organisation still required a great deal of

tinkering. The Business Development Programme

proved highly valuable here.’

‘We were able to make a plan that worked,’ Nizamic

reflects. Crowdfunding resulted in a starting amount

and this is how Sustainable Buildings launched in

2016. ‘The VentureLab programme forced us to leave

technology for what it was once a week and focus

entirely on the business instead.’

A hands-on coach provided practical and theoretical

support and the VentureLab network provided the

first commercial assignments. ‘Demand continued

to grow. It really became time to launch a business.’

Preparation‘Perhaps we might also have succeeded using

our own methods,’ says Nizamic. ‘But the help of

VentureLab enabled us to properly prepare the set-

up of Sustainable Buildings. This saved us a great

deal of time. We could start running our business

sooner. The wording of the motto ‘running a

business, you have to run fast all the time’ does

not come out of thin air.’

Sustainable Buildings - Faris Nizamic, Tuan Anh Nguyen

Hungry for business

sustainablebuildings.nl

That the sum is often more than its parts is proven by biologist and entrepreneur Linda Dijkshoorn from EV Biotech. If you put together a physicist, a computer expert and a biologist, this will produce a striking innovation.

EV Biotech specialises in metabolic engineering, the company tinkers with genes. ‘We adapt bacteria genetically in order to create specialty chemicals,’ explains founder Dijkshoorn. EV Biotech does this for the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry and the plastics sector, among others.

Computer modelWhat EV Biotech does – modifying genetic material

from bacteria – is not unique. The company dis-

tinguishes itself because EV Biotech does not do the

work in a lab, but with a computer model that was

developed in-house. ‘It combines disciplines in a way

that has not been done before,’ says Dijkshoorn.

Ideal design‘With our digital model of bacteria, a large part of

the laboratory work can be done on the computer, in

a far shorter time as well,’ explains Dijkshoorn. ‘We

are therefore able to digitally create an ideal genetic

design of microorganisms in a very short timespan.’

For example for the production of bioplastics or a

new medicine.

FuroreThe new technology enabled EV Biotech to make

a name for itself very quickly, and the potential of

the business was soon recognised by industries and

investors. EV Biotech is currently working on a proof

of concept that is to demonstrate that the results of

the model also work on a more extensive scale.

PotentialIn order to be able to take that step, EV Biotech is

meeting with investors and financers. Dijkshoorn

has faith in it: ‘The idea has enormous potential,

everybody is blown away by its strength.’

Entrepreneurial spiritDijkshoorn emphasises that VentureLab has played

an important role in the creation of EV Biotech.

evbio.tech

‘The entrepreneurial spirit was already there.

I have had a homework institute for a long time

which enabled me to finance my master. I considered

the invitation for the VentureLab weekend to be a

great opportunity to achieve my dream: starting a

biotech company.’

The right questionsThe weekend did bring an unexpected turn of

events. ‘I went down there with an entirely different

business idea. But exactly the right questions were

asked, which put me on a different track and this

is how the idea for EV Biotech came about.’ During

a subsequent VentureLab Weekend, Dijkhoorn’s

pitch was chosen as one of the best business plans,

which came with a year-long participation in the

VentureLab programme.

AccelerationThis kicked the company into gear. ‘We were

provided with many entrepreneurial basics and there

was a sharp focus on our needs. It was a great help

that we were hooked up with a coach with expertise

in finance. The workshops in which we were critically

assessed also boosted our development. They also

provided a valuable network.’

IdealisticDijkshoorn has achieved her one dream in the

meantime. She can start work on the follow-up now.

‘There is definitely an idealistic side to it as well,’

she explains. ‘With EV Biotech, we wanted to make

a contribution to the transition from an economy

based on fossil fuels to an economy that is fully bio-

based. Sustainability is what drives us at the core.’

EV Biotech - Linda Dijkshoorn

Trailblazing

It was clear to Milan Vogelaar and his associate Niels Rop that digital learning programmes can reinforce training and schooling. With Stark Learning, they take this further by using virtual reality, gamification and serious games for training purposes.

Suppose you want to offer safety training to

employees of an industrial installation company.

A handbook is probably indispensable in this

case, but you cannot use it to prepare for complex

situations in practice. In order to be able to do this,

Stark Building developed a virtual factory where

employees can perform tasks as they perform them

every day. Vogelaar: ‘Virtual reality allows you to

create situations that are too complex or expensive

to simulate in practice. Think of extinguishing a fire.’

The seeds are sownSuch learning methods are very popular worldwide.

So there are opportunities. With the e-learning idea,

the seeds for Stark Learning were sown. Vogelaar

and Rop gained experience in the development

of classic courses around energy transition while

working for their previous employer. ‘These

courses were increasingly offered via an e-learning

programme. We saw opportunities there and

continued to develop e-learning by enriching it

with virtual reality, gamification and serious games.’

IncubatorVogelaar and Rop consciously started looking for

an accelerator or incubator programme. ‘We

viewed it as a suitable way to professionalise an

organisation or make it grow. We came into

contact with VentureLab fairly soon after the

launch of Stark Learning.’

Dream‘The more structured you work on the set-up of

a business, the greater the chance you become

successful and achieve your dream.’ Vogelaar

believes this is the essence of the VentureLab

programme.’ You have an idea. You want to test it

on the market. This is done intensively within the

VentureLab programme. You are tried and tested

to the point of irritation to find out whether your

business really has market opportunities.’

RunningParticipation in the VentureLab Business Programme

diverted attention away from the daily schedule for

Vogelaar and Rop. ‘You are constantly running fast,

but you are blinkered. When you start a business,

you are completely focused. VentureLab gives you a

wake-up call and showed us our blind spot.’

In a more practical sense, the VentureLab network

meetings offered Stark Learning the opportunity to

attract investors. The cash flow shortage in the initial

phase could be solved this way.

‘The VentureLab programme offered us the

opportunity to work on elements where we were

less strong. There are so many facets you are not

sufficiently aware of. Every starting entrepreneur

encounters this. Working with other entrepreneurs

on the business has helped us. We were able to learn

a great deal from each other.’

ChoicesYou work for your business all week long, you

work on your business one day a week,’ Vogelaar

summarises the VentureLab-programme. ‘That

obligation is quite a heavy burden, but it forces you

to critically reflect on the choices you make.’

Stark Learning - Milan Vogelaar, Niels Rop

Remove those blinkers

starklearning.nl

The business is currently collecting the final

financing, after which the test can be validated,

standardised and finally marketed. Founder Nutte

van Belzen (24) will have worked on it for two years

by then, he says: I started this project when I was

still a medical student. Together with two fellow

students, I was made aware of the discovery of

these genes during a course on entrepreneurship.

The researchers did not want to be entrepreneurs

themselves, and my fellow students resumed their

studies. But I started CC Diagnostics with my partner

Arnoud Huisman.’

MarketHis potential market is enormous because in the

Western world tens of millions of women are

checked for cervical cancer every five years. This

illness is almost always caused by a HPV virus and

can therefore be detected at an early stage. The

test by CC Diagnostics will mainly be a solution for

women who, based on the HPV test, are still in doubt

whether they have cervical cancer. Van Belzen:

‘We believe that our test – as a follow-up test –

can reduce the number of unnecessary referrals

for examination by a gynaecologist by a third. In

addition, the test is cheaper and more woman-

friendly because we can use the same samples as

in the primary HPV test.’

DecisiveVan Belzen also followed the VentureLab programme

after his successful entrepreneurship course.

This was a decisive step in his development: ‘I

developed from a student into an entrepreneur

during the VentureLab period. This has to do with

a different way of thinking. As a student, you just

do what is expected of you, while you have to use

opportunities, assess risks, and use your network in

a focused manner when you are an entrepreneur.

This is what I picked up there. Although I never

thought I would be an entrepreneur.’

Secure nestMoreover, Van Belzen gained a network of various

inspiring entrepreneurs at VentureLab: ‘Although

we are in totally different markets, we stimulate

new ideas in each other, sometimes with apparently

stupid questions.’

In anticipation of the moment he can go for it with

his business, he is expanding his network to other

parts of the Netherlands. ‘You have to dare to leave

your secure nest at some point. You are only a good

entrepreneur if you continue to develop yourself.’

CC Diagnostics - Nutte van Belzen

Growth fromstudent to entrepreneur

cc-diagnostics.com

As with so many spin-offs of UMCG, Groningen-based CC Diagnostics only focuses on one product at this point: a cheaper, but especially more reliable test for cervical cancer. The test is based on an invention by researchers from Groningen who have identified three genes that have a predictive value for susceptibility to this illness.

The VentureLab programme offers training courses every Friday morning and afternoon. The training schedule consists of training courses you can find in the overview. In addition, there is room for training courses on demand. The programme has three start dates a year. The set-up offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of creating a tailor-made training schedule.

Flexible Training Programme

Enactus Groningen occupies a special place among

the many incubators for start-ups in Groningen, as

it has only just been launched. It actually forms part

of a worldwide network that was founded in the

United States as an organisation to help beginning

entrepreneurs to make progress through good advice

and a small amount of financing. Every student

town in the Netherlands has one or more Enactus

departments now, and they are all affiliated with

an educational institution.

The Groningen branch of Enactus was set up in 2016

by three students of the University of Groningen.

Because the team is very young, the three companies

supported by Enactus (Selfles, United Kitchen and

Feestjesfabriek) are still in the start-up phase. An

example of such a company is one where young

people who are removed from the labour market

help to make glass bottles.

Ideas are welcome‘Our businesses are yet not profitable enough to earn

a living from, but they should be in the long term.

This enables us to recover our small investments and

invest in new start-ups. This only concerns a couple

of hundred euros we have to pay ourselves. And we

continue to assist them in terms of entrepreneurship,

with workshops and counselling. All good ideas are

welcome. The condition we impose is that it concerns

a social and sustainable business with a sound

business model.’ says chairwoman Amber

ten Brummelhuis from Enactus in Groningen.

enactus.nl

Gaining knowledgeIn order to be able to pass on expertise on entre-

preneurship, you will have to gain it of course.

VentureLab was one of the sources from which the

founding board of Enactus derived its expertise.

‘This made sense,’ says Ten Brummelhuis. ‘Just as

VentureLab, we were affiliated with the University

of Groningen. The route that was followed by the

previous board was a great help, as was the fact

that we could base ourselves in the inner city with

VentureLab. It would have been far more difficult

without VentureLab.’ In addition, VentureLab has

an extensive network that is used by Enactus in

the organisation of courses or lectures.

Responsible leadersFurthermore, Enactus Groningen strongly relies

on parent organisation Enactus Netherlands. Ten

Brummelhuis: ‘It aims to make us ‘responsible leaders’

by teaching us how to be involved in social and

sustainable entrepreneurship. This also involves an

administrative academy, peer reviews and company

visits.’

A more beautiful townTen Brummelhuis hopes that Enactus Groningen can

make the city a bit more beautiful with its projects.

Students are actually living in a small world. I believe

you kill two birds with one stone if you improve the

town in an entrepreneurial way.

Enactus - Amber Ten Brummelhuis

Advice for advisors

Strategic Capital / CEO

Basic trainings Entrepreneurial process & thinking

Strategy content Strategy context Stakeholder analysis and management

Impact

Skill trainings Business model (canvas)

Analyzing strategic environment

Certification trainings

Scalability & growth

Cooperation in networks / Strategic partnerships

Internationalization

Economic Capital / CFO

Basic trainings Management accounting

Financial accounting Corporate finance Financial sources Taxes

Skill trainings Financial modelling Bookkeeping Investor pitching

Certification trainings

Valuation Business angels & VC Subsidies

Cultural Capital / COO

Basic trainingsOrganizational culture & images of organization

Planning and lean analytics

Project management

Organizationalstructure and growth

Legal aspects of the company

Skill trainings Writing contracts, offertes

Hiring employeesProject management skills

Certification trainings

Developing a performance and appraisal system

Human resource management in SMEs

Procurement and Supply Chain Management: managing suppliers

Cultural Capital / CTO

Basic trainings Management of technology

New product development

Intellectual propertyTechnology adoption & diffusion

Customer integration in technology

Skill trainings Technology intelligence

Prototyping and MVP’s

Risk management for innovation projects

Certification trainings

Advanced management of technology

Advanced new product development

Open innovation & technology transfer

Social Capital / CMO

Basic trainings The concept marketing

Market analysis Customer validationMarketing instruments 1

Marketing instruments 2

Skill trainings Customer acquisition & sales

Negotiation Revenue modelsSocial Media for startups

Certification trainings

Valuable network resources

E-commerceCustomer value management

Buyer-supplier relations

Personal and Team Skils / all

Basic trainings You as an entrepreneur

Individual Development Plan - achieve your entrepreneurial goals

Personal effectiveness

Networking skills

Presentation skills

Conflict management

Skill trainings Entrepreneurial teams Team work Media training

Flexible Training Programme

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VentureLab NorthKadijk 4

9747 AT Groningen

www.venturelabinternational.com/northinfo@venturelabnorth.com

+31 (0)50 - 363 40 05

Director: Prof. Dr. Aard GroenCoordinator: Aniek Ouendag