Amsterdam is a place for many entrepreneurs to build their startups. The city is one of Europe’s fastest-growing startup hubs with the market cap of Netherland-founded startups reaching a total of €400 billion this decade.
This has led to a global interest among investors from all over the world who are keen to put their money into Amsterdam startups. The vibrant city is a perfect place for entrepreneurs to grow. With access to mentorship, a supportive network, and investment opportunities, Amsterdam serves as a fertile ground for startup growth.
In April 2024, several promising Amsterdam-based startups secured funding. Let’s take a look at these startups, some of which are currently hiring.
bunq
Founder(s): Ali Niknam
Founded in: 2012
Funding: €29M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Bunq is a fintech company that is currently the second largest neobank in Europe. It targets digital nomads across the European Economic Area, offering an easy and secure way to manage their money.
Nikham, the founder, claimed that bunq is a bank that prioritises the needs of its users. The Dutch neobank garnered a net profit of €53M in 2023 in its Annual Report & Financial Statements,
Announced earlier this month, bunq secured a fresh capital funding of €29M from the unicorn’s existing shareholders, The funds will be allocated to accelerate bunq development strategy and ensure compliance with Dutch Central Bank regulations.
Meridia
Founder(s): Thomas Vaassen and Simon Ulvund
Founded in: 2015
Funding: €5.2M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Meridia is an agrotech company specialising in field data within complex agri-commodity supply chains. It aims to construct a transparent and inclusive supply chain that can afford smallholders a level playing field.
It raised €5.2M in its Series A funding round this April. This investment comes from SAGANA, Regeneration.VC, Intercontinental Exchange, Cerulean Ventures, Edaphon, Cerigo Investments, and Sabi Fund.
The funding will accelerate Meridia Verify’s expansion, and its product to verify the supply chain field in real time and validate compliance with various frameworks.
Wakuli
Founder(s): Lukas Grosfeld and Yorick Bruins
Founded in: 2019
Funding: €5.2M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Wakuli is a company that offers high-quality coffee with a short chain from farmers to the homes of over 1 million European subscribers.
The startup’s founders were motivated to build this company to help give more than 100,000 coffee farmers a fair and livable income. Wakuli offers a better price for farmers by eliminating intermediaries.
Wakuli bagged €5.2M funding from a Series A round this April, led by existing shareholders Rubio, ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund, and angel investor Arnoud Aalbersberg. This investment includes a €750K loan and the sale of new shares.
Wakuli plans to use the capital to open eight more stores this year in the Netherlands.
Alleo
Founder(s): Florian Gendrault, Ruben van den Boogaard, Sven Cune, George Visniuc and Adil Bougamza
Founded in: 2021
Funding: €5.0M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Alleo (formerly YourCampus) is an HR platform dedicated to creating a work environment with tailored compensation and benefits packages to each employee’s needs. The diverse background of current employees is what motivated the founding of this platform.
This startup has secured €5.0M investment in a Series A round of funding in April. The investors include Newion, DFF, ROM InWesr, and Mediahuis Ventures. The company announced that the funding will support its expansion plan into a bigger market.
Renewaball
Founder(s): Günther van de Rijt, Hélène Hoogeboom, and Marc Rouffaer
Founded in: 2020
Funding: €3.0M
Hiring: No
Renewaball is a company that creates high-performance circular tennis and padel balls. It aims to reduce the negative impact of regular balls by recycling used tennis and padel balls. Tennis and padel players can enjoy their sports activities with this product not worrying about environmental pollution.
It announced on April 11 that €3.0M investment is secured in a round of funding participated by Rubio Impact Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate its mission to reduce environmental harms caused by tennis and padel balls across Europe.
Healthsage AI
Founder(s): Harm-Jan Wessels and Marcel Alberti
Founded in: 2023
Funding: €3.0M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Healthsage AI is an open platform that offers various AI models, tools, and applications in healthcare. Users can also customise the available models according to their needs before applying the AI models to existing IT systems.
The health-tech company secured a €3.0M seed funding in April. Its investors for this round include Peak, Jaap Maljers, Rubio Impact Ventures, Healthy.Capital, and Jeroen Tas. The company aims to use the funding to expand and scale its open AI platform.
Kepler Vision Technologies
Founder(s): Harro Stokman
Founded in: 2018
Funding: €1.5M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Kepler Vision Technologies is a healthcare software development company with expertise in computer vision and AI technology. One of its products is Kepler Night Nurse, a software to ensure the safety of clients and patients by detecting and preventing falls.
The company team members include experts with a PhD in AI and healthcare sectors. Its future growth is expected to rise with the demand for elderly care and a declining supply of healthcare workers.
It announced on April 10 an investment of €1.5M from ROM InWest. The health tech company will allocate the funds to accelerate the production of Kepler Night Nurse.
Bloom&wolf
Founder(s): Gwen van de Pas
Founded in: 2022
Funding: €1.4M
Hiring: No
Bloom&wolf is a startup that offers premium silk flower services. It aims to lead the next golden age of fake flowers that have many benefits over real flowers. Bloom&wolf silk flowers are long-lasting, beautiful and hard to distinguish from real ones.
The startup announced on April 25 that it has secured €1.4M in funding from a pre-seed round. The investors include CapitalIT and Joanna Invests. It plans to use the funds to expand its product offering and B2B sales capacity.
Verify
Founder(s): Hugo Smits
Founded in: 2022
Funding: €1.0M
Hiring: No
Verify offers an AI-based fingerprint technology that embeds the authenticity of images or videos with 100 per cent accuracy. This technology allows customers to protect their intellectual properties and differentiate between AI-driven and human-made content.
The company raised €1.0M seed funding this April, with investors including Chris Hall, Niels Bouwman, and Google for Startups Accelerator. The funds will be used to hire new AI developers and data scientists. Verify also aims to expand its company in Europe and the US.
Stippl
Founder(s): Luuk Verhoeven, Omar Sheshtawy, and Robin van Rijn
Founded in: 2020
Funding: €575K
Hiring: No
Stiipl is an all-in-one travel app that helps users plan their journeys. It facilitates booking accommodations, transportation, tours, and activities with platform partners like Booking. conm.
The company announced a €575K funding in April, with Marbruck Investments and Volve Capital as the investors. Stippl will use the capital to integrate AI-driven solution in its travel planning feature.
Nano Hybrids
Founder(s): Oliver Lugier and Stegania Grecea
Founded in: 2023
Funding: N/A
Hiring: No
Nano Hybrids is a sustainable tech company that produces hybrid core-shell nanoparticles.
The products include iron, nickel, and zinc nanoparticles for different fields like biomedicine and sustainable energy.
The company also uses sustainable synthesis methods that have minimal environmental risk compared to the conventional production process.
Nano Hybrids received the Amsterdam Science and Innovation Award in 2023. In April’s early VC round, it received an undisclosed amount of funding from Amsterdam Academic Angel FundAs, a startup originating from the Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Nano Hybrids aligns with the mission of the Amsterdam Academic Angel Fund in investing in startups from academia.
Tony’s Chocolonely
Founder(s): Teun van de Keuken
Founded in: 2005
Funding: N/A
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here
Tony’s Chocolonely is a chocolate manufacturer committed to ending the exploitation of child labour and modern slavery in cocoa plantations. By directly partnering with farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, the company pays fair prices and advocates for industry-wide reforms.
It is one of the fastest-growing chocolate brands in the world, having expanded into the UK, Germany, the US, and other markets in addition to the Netherlands.
The company secured an investment from ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz this April to further expand its business. Schlutz purchased a 2% stake of the company, but the amount of funding is undisclosed.
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