Hamed Sadeghian, founder and CEO of Nearfield Instruments, has been crowned as the winner of the third edition of the Leading Entrepreneur in Tech (LET) Award.
“Winning this award is truly an honour, especially coming from such an inspiring community,” says Hamed Sadeghian, CEO and founder of Nearfield Instruments. “I accept this on behalf of the entire team at Nearfield and want to thank all my colleagues for their incredible contributions. My advice to fellow entrepreneurs is simple: believe in yourself, remain self-critical, and above all: don’t be afraid to be bold.”
Organised by Amsterdam-based Techleap.nl, the LET Award (formerly LOEY Award) celebrates entrepreneurs who have built outstanding companies while delivering measurable societal impact through innovation, job creation, and solutions to major global challenges. Techleap is a non-profit organisation partly subsidised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It aims to help Dutch tech startups and scaleups grow faster and more effectively.
Nicola Ebmeyer, CEO of Gain.pro, and Maxim Romain, co-founder and CEO of Dott, were also nominated this year.
It’s worth mentioning that last year Kees Aarts, CEO and founder of the innovative tech scaleup Protix, received the Leading Entrepreneur in Tech (LET) Award 2024.
The LET Award was presented at MEET, an annual event where Dutch founders share ideas and support each other’s growth.
Meet the Jury
This year’s LET Award jury included Kees Aarts (Protix), Vidya Peters (Datasnipper), Thomas Plantenga (Vinted), and Thomas Wolf (Hugging Face).
“It’s incredibly difficult to compare businesses. Every founder is a hero in their own journey,” says Vidya Peters, CEO of DataSnipper and jury member of the LET Award. “We often emphasize community, DEI, and aspiration, and rightly so. But these values only create real impact when paired with a great product and strong product-market fit, as Nearfield Instruments has clearly demonstrated.”
The nominees are evaluated on growth, technological innovation, inspiration, ambition, and commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The winner was selected following personal interviews and jury deliberation, chaired by Prince Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy at Techleap.
“Hamed and his team have made remarkable progress over the past year, positioning Nearfield Instruments as one of the leading tech companies in the global semiconductor industry,” says Constantijn van Oranje of Techleap. “Nearfield truly reflects the innovative spirit of Dutch tech entrepreneurship. Their journey is an inspiration for all scaleups striving to become the success stories of tomorrow.”
Techleap’s MEET community expands its reach
During the MEET 2024 edition, around 346 founders came together to exchange experiences and knowledge.
The broader Techleap community grew to 381 companies and 605 active members.
Through the Rise and Pole Position programs, 219 entrepreneurs received coaching. These companies made up 39 per cent of all Dutch scale-ups last year and secured 70 per cent of the country’s venture capital.
Together, they created more than 26,000 jobs and raised €950M in investments.
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