Amsterdam’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly in recent years. According to the Startup Genome report, the city is home to many international talents, boosted partly because highly skilled immigrants can qualify for 30 per cent tax reimbursement and international graduates get one year to find a job or start a business post graduation.
As per the 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem report, Amsterdam-based startups have a combined value of more than $86B (approx €73.5B), up from $12B (approx €10.2B) in 2015. In 2015, the city ranked 19th in the best startup ecosystem ranking. Since then, it has climbed up to the 15th spot in 2019 and now stands at 12th position globally – and 3rd best startup ecosystem in Europe after London and Stockholm.
In recent years, a number of Amsterdam-based startups have raised fundings. And a few of them have raised more than €10M.
We have compiled a list of 9 such startups who have raised capital in the third quarter of 2021 and are currently hiring fresh talents. Certain details of these startups such as founders’ names, founding year, and the total funding raised, have been sourced from Dealroom.
Recharge.com
Founder(s): Dirk Ueberbach, Robin Weesie (led by CEO Gunther Vogelpoel)
Founding year: 2010
Total funding: €51.8M
Recharge.com provides fast, safe and simple top-ups for consumers via its partnerships with brands such as Apple iTunes, Spotify, and Netflix, among others. For customers, it offers the opportunity to digitally buy or send prepaid credit to spend on their favourite brands. For businesses, its solution combines a scalable, proprietary-based tech platform with distribution power via online marketing.
Currently, the company operates in over 150 countries with 120 employees. It is looking to expand even further this year to include gaming, entertainment, shopping, and prepaid money card products.
Recently, Recharge.com raised €29.82M in its Series B round and plans to accelerate its expansion in the US and new markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In order to fulfill this growth, the company plans to top up its talents in the company. Here’s a list of their open roles.
Zola Electric
Founder(s): Erica Mackey, Joshua Pierce, Xavier Helgesen
Founding year: 2011
Total funding: €144M
Zola Electric provides customers with in-depth reporting on system statuses, and performance and analysis of power consumption behavior. It designs renewable energy solutions based on the latest in solar, battery, and power electronics technology.
More than 1.5 million users and over 300,000 homes and businesses use ZOLA products across multiple African countries – Ivory Coast, Ghana, Namibia, DRC, South Africa, Zambia, and Nigeria.
In September, the Amsterdam-based startup raised $90M (approx €77.6M) in a fresh round of funding. The company is currently looking for a Supplier Quality Engineer and Firmware Team Lead. Interested candidates can apply here.
Picnic
Founder(s): Michiel Muller, Frederik Nieuwenhuys, Joris Beckers, Bas Verheijen
Founding year: 2015
Total funding: €900M
Picnic has developed the modern-day milkman, a mass-market home delivery system for fast-moving consumer goods. It offers the same products but fresher and cheaper as the company does not own any stores but instead works closely with local suppliers.
Besides, the platform also delivers the products at the customers’ doorsteps and free of charge in 100 per cent electric cars. The online supermarket is operational in more than 200 locations in the Netherlands, Germany, and France, and claims to have saved a total of more than 500,000 hours of supermarket visits for its customers.
In mid-September 2021, Picnic raised €600M from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build the ‘most sustainable European grocery delivery company.’ The funds will enable Picnic to invest in automated fulfillment centres, electric vehicles, and the expansion of its tech team. Here’s a list of roles you can apply for.
Ohpen
Founder(s): Chris Zadeh, Bas Wouwenaar, Erik Drijkoningen, Ilco van Bolhuis
Founding year: 2009
Total funding: €70M
Ohpen aims to free banks from their legacy systems and processes. The company claims its cloud-based core banking engine is completely reliable, adaptable, and compliant. With offices across the UK and Benelux regions, Ohpen powers savings, investment, mortgage, loan, and pension products for clients including Aegon, Knab, Robeco, Nationale-Nederlanden, BCM Global, CMIS, Volksbank, and LeasePlan Bank.
Recently, Ohpen raised €30M from Deutsche Bank in the Netherlands. The company has a growing client base and in order to fulfill that demand, it is looking to hire talents to join its mission. Check out their open positions here.
VanMoof
Founder(s): Taco and Ties Carlier
Founding year: 2009
Total funding: €179M
VanMoof develops and designs urban e-bikes. Its e-bikes offer different digital devices like anti-theft systems, intelligent motor, and automatic electronic gear shifting that enable commuters and office goers to travel sustainably.
Last month, the company raised $128M (approx €108M) in its Series C round. VanMoof said it will use the funds to enhance its production capabilities, continue developing new technologies, improve bike specs and reliability, and in order to fulfill these developments it will also hire new talents. Check out the 47 open roles.
Moove
Founder(s): Jide Odunsi, Oladipo Delano, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
Founding year: 2019
Total funding: €25.6M
Netherlands-headquartered Moove is a mobility fintech company that provides vehicle financing to its customers and mobility entrepreneurs. The company embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, allowing access to proprietary performance and revenue analytics of mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans.
Moove, which is operational in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, runs flexible rental and lease models with partner drivers who have the ability to own the vehicles after agreed tenures.
Earlier in August, Moove raised around $100M in a fresh round of funding and is looking to hire talents in various departments. Check out the list here.
Wundermart
Founder(s): Patrick Dekker, Laurens de Kleine
Founding year: 2014
Total funding: €10.6M
Wundermart (formerly Jutter Speijs) is a retail-technology company that offers unmanned shop concepts for the hospitality industry. The company’s unmanned shopping model allows customers to enter a store, grab their desired items, scan each item, and make their payment at the self-checkout kiosk, enabling retail clients to enhance the shopping experience, remove friction at checkout, improve inventory management, and deliver in-depth consumer insights.
Located in Amsterdam, Wundermart now consists of more than 50 entrepreneurial team members. In July 2021, the company had secured €10.5M during an investment round led by Kees Koolen and is looking to add a few talents in its team. Here are the roles you can apply for.
Bunq
Founder(s): Ali Nikam
Founding year: 2012
Total funding: €238M
Bunq is a Dutch independent neobank that makes life easy for its customers. No branch visits, no queues, no paperwork, just immediate access from a mobile device. Users can share bank accounts with whomever they want and pay with worldwide Maestro and Mastercards wherever they go.
The company’s founder, Nikam, set out to radically change the traditional banking industry and was Bunq’s sole investor until 2021, financing the company with €98.7M of his own money. In April 2021, their deposits surpassed €1B for the first time, having doubled in 2019 and then again in 2020.
Earlier in July 2021, Bunq announced the largest series A round ever secured by a European fintech. It raised €193M in a deal with British PE firm Pollen Street Capital, valuing it at approx €1.6B. The company is currently hiring for various roles, check them out here.
Castor
Founder(s): Derk Arts
Founding year: 2012
Total funding: €58.2M
Castor offers a cloud-based clinical data platform that simplifies and streamlines clinical trials processes. The company’s self-service clinical research platform enables researchers to design studies and integrate data from any source in real-time. Interested patients can enroll themselves in trials and share their data online or via a mobile app.
The company has supported over 7,500 studies in more than 90 countries. Its academic studies cover a broad range of disease areas including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system (CNS), rare diseases, infectious diseases, and oncology.
In July, the Dutch startup raised $45M (approx €38M) in its Series B round of funding and was planning to expand its operations, particularly in the US and APAC regions. The company is looking to add more talents. You can apply here.
Oh, and while we have you, be sure to keep an eye on SiliconCanalsJobs for even more exciting startup opportunities!
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