Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands and is known for the historic religious centres, buildings and structures dating back to the 8th century. Besides this, Utrecht is aiming to become the European Capital of Culture with the widest range of cultural activities after Amsterdam.
The other notable highlight is the best student city in the Netherlands with over 10% of all the citizens in the city being students. There are many universities as well in Utrecht resulting in lots of graduates and students looking for full-time and part-time jobs. So, if you are in the city and want to get yourself a job, then you can consider any of these tech startups have high employee growth as sourced from Dealroom.
Solease
Founders: Roderick van Wisselingh, Pierre Vermeulen
Valuation: €12 million to €18 million
Total Funding: €5 million
Founded Year: 2011
Why its hot: Solar panel rental startup Solease lets customers install solar panels on their rooftops sans any investment so that they can produce solar energy. The company rents out solar panels to both domestic and commercial properties on a subscription basis and provides insurance, financing and maintenance of accessories and plates. It is possible for customers to buy the solar systems installed in their homes for a relatively lower pricing a few years later.
Ynformed
Founders: Jaring Hiemstra
Founded Year: 2013
Why its hot: Ynformed is one of the pioneers in data science in the Netherlands. The company focuses on social issues and makes an impact by translating data into real-time insights as well as forecasts. The team of data scientists, data consultants and data engineers have enough experience and use machine learning techniques.
Bol.com
Founders: Daniel Ropers
Valuation: €1.2 billion
Total Funding: Acquired by Ahold
Founded Year: 1999
Why its hot: Bol.com is one of the leading online retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium. Initially, the company started as the first online bookstore in the country and now it has progressed to deliver the best shopping experience ever across categories. Back in 2010, the company debuted in Belgium as well.
TaskHero BV
Founders: Tessa Rijn
Founded Year: 2009
Why its hot: TaskHero BV is an employment agency that offers a helping hand. The company offers a unique platform, which lets users access it 24/7. TaskHero has a team of flexible, ambitious, personal and problem-solving experts make it operational. The startup recruits the best heroes for the vacant positions and assignments.
ViCentra
Founders: Tim Oakes
Valuation: €40 million to €60 million
Total Funding: €10 million
Founded Year: 2013
Why its hot: ViCentra is involved in the research and development of medical devices. The organisation seeks to employ innovative methods to solve medical issues in specific fields. ViCentra believes that products should be simple and deliver accurate results. Also, the products should be great to use and help people achieve great things. The company is known for its product called Kaleido, the smallest insulin pump device tailored for each user.
Active Cues
Founders: Hester Le Riche
Founded Year: 2015
Why its hot: Active Cues is involved in creating moments of happiness in residential care. The company does this by developing games for specific target groups including people suffering from dementia, learning disabilities and autism. The idea behind the company is that play can contribute to the overall health and improve the quality of life.
The Hyve
Founders: Kees van Bochove
Founded Year: 2012
Why its hot: The Hyve is an innovative and fast-growing startup offering professional IT services for open source biomedical informatics solutions. The ultimate objective of the company is to improve the impact and quality of research by letting scientists in healthcare R&D and life sciences with open source data, software and standards.
Merus
Founders: Ton Logtenberg
Valuation: €291 million to €437 million
Total Funding: €149 million
Founded Year: 2003
Why its hot: Merus is one of the leading biotech companies in the Netherlands. This startup develops immunotherapies for cancer and a new generation of drugs that will activate the natural immune system in the human body. The company develops Oligoclonics, which is a mixture of several human therapeutic antibodies that are directed to a common antigen produced from a single cell clone.
Channable
Founders: Rob van Nuenen, Stefan Hospes, Robert Kreuzer
Valuation: €3 million to €5 million
Total Funding: €750k
Founded Year: 2014
Why its hot: Channable provides an online marketing tool for webshops, marketers and online retailers. The company lets users display and compare products listed on shopping websites, affiliate networks and marketplaces easily. The product details are downloaded via a plug-in or data feed and optimised using rule-based actions to comply with the specifications of the platform.
Twelve
Founders: Pieter Paul Van Heeswijk
Founded Year: 2018
Why its hot: Twelve is involved in the development and implementation of payment solutions that are aimed to make payment convenient. It was introduced as a new brand in 2018. Previously, it consisted of Le Credit Sportif that debuted in 2007, Counterpay, Credit Sportif XL and KNIP cashless events. The company won the KPMG innovation prize in 2009.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
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