Yes! It’s our anniversary Saturday the 25th! Silicon Canals turns 4 years old. Time has gone by so quickly and Silicon Canals underwent so many notable transformations since 2014. Mid-way of this journey, on May 24, 2016, Silicon Canals switched from Dutch to English for many reasons. The major reason being the increasing number of expats in the startup community of Amsterdam, which is one of the most cosmopolitan European startup cities.
Today, on our fourth anniversary, we have come up with a compilation of our most impactful stories of all time. Do give a read from below.
Dutch startup content platform
Silicon Canals follows the Dutch startup ecosystem and gives updates about the tech startup world in the Benelux region. We are not just a blog or a news site or a content platform. We are a community that combines all of these together. We are now the biggest online media outlet covering tech startup stories around the Benelux region in English.
StartupFest 2016
As soon as we made the switch to English, it was an exciting week for the Dutch startups as the StartupFest kicked off in the Netherlands. StartupFest featured 30 events with different subjects and themes. It was held in 16 Dutch cities including Amsterdam, Utrecht, Delft, Nijmegen and Rotterdam. It was an event where startups from 45 countries across the world took part. The event attracted startups involved in water management, mobile marketing, VR and more.
Successful in fundraising – Bolt Mobility
Delft startup Bolt Mobility is called the Tesla of the scooter world. Back in 2015, they were looking for the largest Dutch angel investment via crowdfunding for the production and sale of AppScooter, their electric scooter. It involved a funding of €1.5 million. In 2017 alone, Bolt Mobility secured €5 million from crowdfunding. Recently, Bolt Mobility has been rebranded as Etergo with a new website and the startup is working towards its next funding round.
A hot startup – Camarilla
Photo sharing app Camarilla is different from WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. It lets you share photos and videos with up to 15 people simultaneously. The responses aren’t public but appear as private conversations. The app is personal, intimate and subdued. Unlike the existing social networks, this one isn’t about the number of likes and followers but all about personal content. It was once a hot startup in the Netherlands. The discreet photo sharing app received a Venture Capital investment sometime in 2016. But, the startup not really a commercial success and later on merged with Appical, a software company that eases internal communication within companies.
Back from bankruptcy — Watermelon
Utrecht-based Watermelon went bankrupt in 2017 but the startup made its comeback. It uses AI to provide quicker and satisfactory answers to the questions asked by consumers. It uses chatbot technology to let an automated employee talk to the customers and provide answers quickly. The startup progresses too quickly that it had to face a row with Facebook.
Wealthiest scaleup — Picnic
In a never-seen-before funding round in 2017, Picnic, the Dutch online milkman received a whopping €100 million funding. Founded by Michiel Muller, it is an online grocery delivery service that uses electric vehicles. This staggering investment made Picnic the wealthiest scaleup with ambitious growth plans.
Successful IPO valuation — Adyen
Adyen announced its intention to go public in May 2018 and was successful at it. The Netherlands-based payments startup competes with Stripe and PayPal. It raised nearly €922 million (approximately $1 billion). As promised, the company went public in June with the initial price per share being €400. The leading Dutch payment startup was valued over €7 billion.
Failure of shared economy — Jetwise
Back in 2016, Jetwise, the Uber for private jets literally crashed as the company filed for bankruptcy. The startup based in Amsterdam offered a subscription model for clients to take unlimited seats on scheduled flights with private jets. The final subscription model was easy to develop was involved risk due to high cost.
HR-tech startup never made it — Yearn
In 2017, promising HR-tech startup Yearn made it to the list of startups that went bankrupt. The startup focused on a business model based on the old online recruitment with a twist. Founded in 2016, nothing significant happened in the startup last year and it reached the end of its existence. Once a dreamteam of founders, Yearn failed to create a sustainable business model.
Individuality is the key — Ace & Tate
Ace & Tate makes handmade men and women glasses and sunglasses and prescription lenses starting €98. The startup focuses on individuality. The stores of the brand have distinctive interiors setting a distinctive industrial architecture. The startup focuses on frames that are not only sleek but also modernist.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world in the coming future.
