From Mexico City to Rotterdam: How the Dutch Startup Visa launched Estefania Hernandez’s HR tech revolution

In January 2024, Estefania Hernandez packed her bags and left Mexico City behind, embarking on a journey that would see her launch her third startup in an entirely new ecosystem. With approval for the Dutch Startup Visa in hand, she arrived in Rotterdam ready to build a company with global ambitions. Today, just over a year later, her HR tech platform Everday is working with paying customers across two continents and has secured significant funding to fuel its growth.

“Building a startup is already hard, and doing it in a new country with a different culture and language adds more complexity,” Hernandez reflects. But the Dutch Startup Visa program, she says, creates “an outstanding opportunity to boost innovation in the country” by smoothing the transition for foreign founders.

The Birth of Everday

In early 2024, Hernandez joined Builders Studio, a Rotterdam-based startup studio designed to build software companies in the field of the future of work and living. During her initial months at Builders Studio, Hernandez spent time interviewing over 200 HR leaders to understand how the rapidly evolving workplace was affecting companies.

“They mentioned that as the skills for every role are changing fast year after year, the process of aligning company goals with in-house skills and keeping that information updated was getting complicated,” Hernandez explains.

This insight led to the creation of Everday, a platform that uses AI to automate the mapping and analysis of company-wide skills to facilitate critical workforce processes. The solution helps companies identify the most essential skills needed to maintain competitiveness while supporting internal mobility, development, and succession planning in an unbiased and data-driven way.

“Leaders can know exactly who inside the company already has the skills necessary to perform a new role,” Hernandez says, explaining how Everday is creating a “skill taxonomy” tailored to each industry and company’s specific goals. The system then maintains this information based on market trends, ensuring organisations stay ahead of skill requirements.

The Dutch Startup Visa: A Path to Innovation

For Hernandez, the Dutch Startup Visa provided the gateway to building a global company. After seven and a half years leading a cleaning services startup with a social component in Mexico, she was ready for a new challenge with broader horizons.

“I was searching for a place where I could start building a startup again, but with a global mindset,” she says. The Netherlands caught her attention partly due to its impressive number of unicorns – thirty-two for a relatively small country – signalling a thriving startup ecosystem.

The application process moved with surprising speed. Hernandez applied in mid-January and received visa approval by the end of February, just six weeks later. This efficiency contradicted her expectations about typical government processes, particularly for immigration.

She credits Builders Studio, which acted as her Visa facilitator, for the efficient and structured process that led to her Visa being granted quickly. Organisations like Builders Studio help foreign entrepreneurs navigate application requirements and connect them with the local ecosystem. For Hernandez, Builders Studio provided not just guidance for the visa application but also the structure to build a B2B SaaS company and, critically, introduced her to her Dutch co-founder, Dylan Morland.

“This is my third startup, and I wanted to explore how to build a B2B SaaS, which was relatively new for me,” Hernandez explains. “With Builders Studio, I realised this is a program with experienced managing partners who were also founders themselves. Working with someone who went through this path before successfully was super important.”

Building in the Dutch Ecosystem

The Netherlands has provided Hernandez with more than just legal status. She cites the “warmth and openness of the Dutch entrepreneurial ecosystem” as a significant advantage, with events and founder communities offering platforms to showcase Everday and connect with entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors.

One year in, Everday has six paying customers across Mexico, the United States, and Europe with another 20 companies in the pipeline. The startup recently secured the Rabobank innovation loan and attracted its first angel investor from Poland through Builders Studio’s network.

“Being here in the Netherlands has given us the structure, the experience, and the technical support to build the foundations of Everday,” Hernandez says. “The network and support infrastructure have made our growth process smoother.”

The Dutch reputation for directness and the potentially challenging weather were mitigated by having her sister already living in the country for 13 years. But Hernandez also found that Dutch people are “very kind and warm” and open to switching to English to facilitate communication, while “I continue strengthening my Dutch language skills.”

Looking to the Future

Hernandez and Morland have ambitious plans for Everday. “We want to become the go-to platform for company leaders to make strategic decisions about their workforce while empowering employees with an unbiased path for professional development,” she explains.

By 2030, they aim to revolutionize workforce management using AI and impact 50,000 companies. In the near term, they’re expanding their client base, growing their team and preparing to launch a new version of their product co-created with HR leaders.

Rather than rapid scaling with hundreds of employees, Hernandez and Morland envision building “a very lean and agile team,” focusing on moving faster with the talent they have in-house.

While Hernandez is an inspiration for every entrepreneur, she says they draw inspiration for HR platform HiBob, which has won over customers from industry giants like Workday and SAP through user-friendly design and strong customer involvement in product development.

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

To those aspiring to start on their own in the Netherlands, she emphasises the importance of mental preparation and finding a facilitator who genuinely believes in your mission.

“Find a facilitator focused on your market, with experience that truly resonates with you,” she advises, noting that this partner becomes your major support in a new country.

She also encourages founders not to fear starting from zero in a new place. “I came here knowing no one in this space, and what made the big difference was connecting with other founders and communities, where I found support, inspiration, and help with my mental health as a founder in a new country.”

The Dutch Startup Visa program has evolved significantly in its ten years of existence. When her initial one-year visa expired, Hernandez found the extension process relatively straightforward, though it required more documentation than the original application. She appreciates that having the startup visa gives entrepreneurs “instant points” toward qualifying for longer-term residency.

As Everday grows, Hernandez sees potential in using other Dutch immigration pathways like the “Highly skilled migrant” visa to bring in international talent. “That’s one of the things I like about the Netherlands,” she says. “It’s such a multicultural place, and there are many options for bringing outside talent to your company.”

For Hernandez, the journey from Mexico City to Rotterdam represents more than just geographic relocation – it’s the transformation of an idea into a global company with the potential to reshape how organisations develop and deploy their most valuable asset: their people.