The Netherlands is the new Silicon Valley as it has become a sizzling ground for tech startups. The country remains to be the top choice for aspiring entrepreneurs. The Dutch startup ecosystem is gradually transforming into a powerful one with top-notch technological and scientific advancements, highly qualified workforce, and expats in the country.
Unlike other major European markets such as Germany and the UK, the Dutch technological prowess is not restricted only to its capital city. Besides Amsterdam, there are booming tech hubs in other cities in the country including Rotterdam, Delft, and Utrecht.
Talking about Delft, it is home to the largest tech university in the country – Delft University of Technology. Also, it is one of the student cities in the Netherlands. This vibrant city is one of the hotbeds of high-tech innovation in Europe, and this is where the startup incubator YES!Delft was born. Here, we have cherry-picked some of the fastest-growing Delft startups as sourced from Dealroom.
The Ocean Cleanup
Founders: Boyan Slat, Charles-Eric Gascon
Funding: €32.1 million
Valuation: $126 million – $189 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: The Ocean Cleanup is a social impact-driven company, which has come up with a passive plastic capturing technology. This one uses ocean current to gather the plastic in the water bodies. Its technology is one of the most important milestones achieved in the process of cleaning up the oceans. The Ocean Cleanup is believed to have an incredible impact on the environment.
NightBalance
Founders: Eline Vrijland-Van Beest, Thijs van Oorschot
Funding: €12.5 million
Valuation: €50 million – €75 million
Founded year: 2009
Why its hot: NightBalance developed a Sleep Position Trainer, which is an advanced yet easy to use device aimed at preventing positional obstructive sleep apnea. Given that sleep apnea is a growing concept impacting the lives of millions of people across the world, NightBalance has come up with the SPT that will redefine the therapy and make it patient-friendly.
Hardt
Founders: Marinus Van Der Meijs, Mars Geuze, Sascha Lamme, Tim Houter
Funding: €6.9 million
Valuation: €20 million – €30 million
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: Delft-based Hardt designs and develops a tube train that travels through a vacuum tube at high speeds of up to 1200 km/hr. Hardt collaborated with BAM to build the first hyperloop test facility in Europe. It uses lane-switching technology, which lets hyperloop vehicles change the lanes without additional or moving components at high-speeds.
Roadmap
Founders: Jeroen van Velzen, Koen Bavinck, Markus Emmer
Funding: €4 million
Valuation: €16 million – €24 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Roadmap was founded to make a major change in the corporate travel industry and aims to enhance the travel experience for business travellers. The Roadmap app features an intuitive interface. It assists users in managing their travel program and lets them stay connected to travel agencies and industry suppliers across the world.
Kitepower
Founders: Johannes Peschel, Roland Schmehl
Funding: €3.9 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Kitepower is one of the leaders involved in airborne wind energy. The company develops innovative and cost-effective alternatives to existing wind turbines. Kitepower does this by using kites to generate electricity. It uses a patented technology, which is touted to use 90% lesser material and twice as efficient as existing technologies.
Physee
Founders: Ferdinand Grapperhaus, Willem Kesteloo
Funding: €3.4 million
Valuation: €6 million – €9 million
Founded year: 2014
Why its hot: Physee makes electricity-generating smart windows to harness solar power. The company develops products including PowerWindow, SmartWindow, and a tablet app. PowerWindow is a transparent double-paned window converting light into electricity while SmartWindow uses sensors to estimate the preferred building settings and measure climatic conditions. Users can get information such as generated electricity, battery performance, and savings via the EESY app.
Nowi
Founders: Omar Link, Simon van de Jagt
Funding: €2.5 million
Valuation: €4 million – €6 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Nowi is a Dutch semiconductor startup that develops chipset for IoT devices such as smartwatches and sensors. Nowi solves the energy problem with IoT devices using energy harvesting technology. Recently, the company teamed up with Huawei to power smart cities and wearables with the solar panel chip.
aQysta
Founders: Fred Henny, Lennart Budelmann, Pratap Thapa
Funding: €5 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: aQysta is a high-tech startup founded at the Delft University of Technology. The company aims to leave a positive impact on the environment, economy, and society with its sustainable hydro-powered pumping solutions. Besides this, the company conducts technology to research, product design and development, and global sales.
Scoozy
Founders: Job van de Kieft, Jan-Willem van Gent
Funding: €1.2 million
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: Scoozy is an electric mobility startup and a light electric vehicle platform. Scoozy has reinvented the mobility scooter industry by providing priority to safety. It comes with an active braking system with intuitive steering. Also, there is an independent suspension. The startup has been quite successful that the first series of its electric scooters have been sold out and the second series will be delivered next month.
Inkless
Founders: Arnaud van der Veen, Venkatesh Chandrasekar
Funding: €1.1 million
Valuation: €4 million – €6 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Inkless was founded by graduates from the Delft University of Technology. This startup develops inkless technology for black and white printing sans cartridges or toners on all paper types. This is possible with the controlled burning or carbonisation technique, which produces the right amount of heat on paper and turns lasting deep black marks. Inkless reduces wastage, which saves a lot of money.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
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