On Wednesday December 7th Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited incubator YES!Delft to celebrate the recent successes its startups achieved. Particularly ParaPy and Nerdalize had reason to party, as they struck deals with Fokker and Eneco respectively.
Deals worth celebrating
Parapy provides software that speeds up engineering design processes by up to 99%. They also automate 3D modelling, meshing and simulation. Their first project for aircraft engineer Fokker will be the development of an airplane steering rudder. This usually takes a year, Parapy plans to perform it in just a few weeks. Nerdalize has extended its deal with energy provider Eneco to install their high performance servers in homes as a sustainable alternative to regular heating.
Some successful stats
The Prime Minister’s visit was also a convenient occasion for YES!Delft to send out a press release with some impressive recent stats. For instance, according to the UBI index YES! Delft can now call itself the 4th best incubator in all of Europe. More than 180 YES!Delft companies operate in over 75 different countries worldwide, they have raised more than € 300M in investments collectively and they employ 1300 people. 2016 was the biggest year for the incubator so far, as it welcomed 19 new startups into its program.
Shaking hands with startups
For Prime Minister Rutte it wasn’t the first time he achieved the incubator’s headquarters. He actually opened it in 2005, back then still as secretary of education, and returned in 2015 for the 10th anniversary. Besides sipping champagne, the country’s prime politician also shook hands with the founders of several YES!Delft startups. Rutte met with tech-company IMSystems,
sleep robot creator Somnox, offshore wind pioneer SeaState5 and App-Scooter producer Bolt Mobility, He also had time for MG Aubel who provide sustainable construction materials and Mapiq who improve office efficiency. Eventhough the PM is lagging behind in the polls for next year’s elections, you wouldn’t be able to tell from the smile on his face.
