REACH FOR THE TOP
Realise
your ambition
Venturelab helps
entrepreneurs to plan,
accelerate and
professionalise
Preface
A fantastic idea is one thing, converting this idea into a successful business requires a great deal more. A good business model, access to the right markets, adequate financing, the right contacts and the skills of the team determine success or failure for more than eighty per cent.
VentureLab exists to help entrepreneurs to fine-tune their skills. The VentureLab Business Development Programme was set up especially for this purpose. This is a one-year programme in which entrepreneurs are equipped with the right set of tools to achieve ambitions.
You receive training and will be coached, and experts are available to assist you in drawing up expansion plans. In addition, there will be a focus on personal development and teambuilding. VentureLab develops your potential enabling you to prepare your business for national or international expansion.
We will monitor progress during the programme. Business Panels will assess presentations and help the organisation to continue to develop. Moreover, VentureLab offers access to powerful business and knowledge networks and financial support. Are you looking for workspace? VentureLab also offers flexible office facilities.
It does not matter whether you are a start-up, a scale-up or have been an entrepreneur for a longer period of time. VentureLab is available for all entrepreneurs in the Northern Netherlands with expansion plans. VentureLab offers individual support to managing directors and business developers or at team level, to groups or departments within the organisation. VentureLab has developed into the most ambitious business accelerator for businesses in the Northern Netherlands and has coached, trained and supervised 500+ participants since its launch in 2009.
A convincing track record has been built comprising ambitious, innovative and high-tech businesses who make the best possible use of their expansion opportunities partly thanks to our programme. We could tell you how VentureLab has stimulated and assisted them, but we would prefer to let the entrepreneurs do the talking. They tell their success stories in this brochure. In addition, we will explain a little more about what VentureLab does and what it can mean for businesses who want to advance.
Take on the challenge with us and get in touch.
Aard Groen, Managing Director of VentureLab International and
Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Groningen (RUG).
What VentureLab does for entrepreneurs
2015 - 2018
Group 1 - 4 Investments collected
€ 7.874.000,-
45% RUG students, PhD’s and employees
18% Other
45% Health
37% Energy
232 entrepreneurs in 136 startups
successfully completed:
159 entrepreneurs in 94 startups
total number of jobs 217
Energy Health Other
1 year BusinessDevelopment ProgrammeEvery 4 months
Business Panel presentations
Accelerating plans, professionalising plans
VentureLab is available for organisations and businesses who want to advance, who want to grow, and fully utilise their potential. VentureLab offers businesses an environment in which they can find everything to be successful. An environment in which they are in continuous contact with people who can advance the business and in which participants inspire and urge each other to push the boundaries.
Any business that grows will run into business issues. VentureLab was set up as a programme to tackle expansion issues, which ambitious businesses face. With the help of a number of leading (knowledge) partners, VentureLab succeeded in putting together a high-level and high-quality programme.
Businesses who participate in the VentureLab programme will be able to benefit from an ecosystem of businesses, knowledge institutions, investors and governments, which can all contribute towards the development of the organisation. VentureLab is the connecting link and the driver of this enterprising ecosystem.
Rapidly growing businesses set the pace in a vital economy. They are innovative and the source of new products, services, and processes. They create new jobs and attract other businesses. They boost the knowledge level of the network of which they form part. They are therefore of great importance for the region in which they are active.
Accelerator for businesses who want to advance
VentureLab
starts the business
development programme
with a new group of
participants three
times a year
Introduction
Do you want to know more? Visit venturelabinternational.com/north
What does
VentureLab offer?
One-year Individual
and Business Development Programme
Intensive coaching and
supervision of the participant by a personal coach and expert coaching
Knowledge transfer, training and
supervision in the fields of strategy, financing, marketing and sales, technology and organisation
Personal development and team development
Investor Readiness Programme to improve access to financing
and potential clients
Access to (international) networks
and relations with potential partners, clients and financers
Flexible workplaces, meeting rooms and access to research
databases
VentureClasses and other freely
accessible periodical network meetings with inspiring speakers
A stimulating and motivating
ecosystem of partner organisations
Specialisations in energy, IT, health and biobased
activities
Four-monthly monitoring of progress via Business
Panel presentations
Plenty of scope to design a tailor-made programme
VentureLab Management SystemWe use Golden Egg Check software, an online investor readiness system.
This software is also used as a communication and business
development tool, for example tracking the scores of the Business
Panel presentations.
The Business Development ProgrammeThe Business Development Programme is at the heart of VentureLab. It is a practice-oriented programme based on scientific knowledge. The programme is based on the model that was developed by Professor Aard Groen, Professor of Entrepreneurship & Valorisation at the University of Groningen and at the University of Twente.
Aard Groen came up with his model for innovative processes in organisations based on his observation that businesses with a great deal of potential do not always achieve their potential. This is often due to a one-sided focus on their specialist knowledge, as a result of which there is not enough focus on other important success factors in business. The model is intended as a business growth accelerator for knowledge-intensive start-ups and established knowledge-intensive high-tech businesses.
Aard Groen: ‘Entrepreneurship is about recognising or creating an opportunity to achieve value creation, converting this opportunity into an implementable concept and utilising this concept in an (expanding) organisation. From the earliest development phase, there should be a commitment to the accumulation of four ‘capitals’ (see box) that jointly form the ‘business capital’. This model applies to every business, regardless of the phase in which it finds itself.’
In order to optimise value creation, it is important that there is a balance between the four ‘capitals’: strategic, economic, cultural and social capital. ‘There is virtually not a single entrepreneur who is able to accumulate these capitals by themselves or keep them at constant levels,’ Aard Groen explains. ‘Building a successful business requires teamwork by an enterprising team with a wide range of qualities.’
The Business Development Programme focuses on the development of qualities that ensure rapid and sustainable growth. The programme supports entrepreneurs in the development of their qualities and teaches them to assess the value of other roles. The objective of participation in the programme is always the growth development of the business.
Strategic Capital:setting and pursuing targets and conquering a market position. It is geared towards the sale of products.
Model Business Growth Accelerator
Strategic Capital
CEO
CTO/COO
CulturalCapital
EconomicCapital
CFO
CMO
SocialCapital
VA
LU
EC
RE
AT
ION
Opportunityrecognition
Opportunitypreparation
Opportunityexploitation
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CFO Chief Financial Officer
CTO Chief Technology Officer
COO Chief Operating Officer
CMO Chief Marketing Officer
Cultural Capital: knowledge, knowhow of technological developments and organisation of patterns of effective behaviour. Cultural capital also includes communication with various target groups.
Economic Capital:financial resources, the capacity to optimise business processes, using resources efficiently.
Social Capital: interactions with the business environment, contacts and networks.
VentureLab Coaching
A personal coachThe personal coach has a central role in the VentureLab programme. A personal coach will be available for every participant. The coach will coach participants intensively for a year.
In addition, the participants can use expert coaching to gain more in-depth knowledge. The expert coach provides coaching surrounding knowledge-intensive subjects including patents and legal or financial affairs.
VentureLab Business Development The programme starts with a kick-off meeting for every participant. Coach coordinator Cees-Jan Groen will assess the requirements of a participant during this meeting. The most suitable coach will be sought based on the assessment. ‘Coaching at VentureLab is geared towards the person and the team as well as towards the business. This imposes high demands on our coaches,’ says Cees-Jan Groen.
The quality of the coaches in combination with their broad areas of knowledge creates an important added value for VentureLab, Cees-Jan Groen emphasises.
Individual interpretationA coach should not be the same type as the participant. Indeed, this will create a better match, Cees-Jan Groen knows from experience. ‘However, there should certainly be chemistry. And there may be friction from time to time.’The personal coach is available for the participant for a total of 48 hours. The participant and the coach are free to use the hours as they please: they can meet for an hour every week, one morning or afternoon every month and everything in between, depending on the needs of the participant: ‘The coach stimulates, motivates and transfers knowledge. This is how they push the entrepreneur to a higher level. The coach is available to give the entrepreneur a good feeling, but also to spur them on to action.’
‘Intensive personal coaching provides entrepreneurs with knowledge, experience and
good contacts.’
NeedsThe entrepreneur and the coach jointly assess which training courses are useful, taking into account the personal and business needs of the participant. The coach guides the entrepreneur towards VentureLab meetings where they can broaden and deepen their knowledge, can increase their network and approach investors.
Expert coachingVentureLab will conduct a search in its network for more specialist questions. Accountants, legal professionals, financial advisors or other professionals are willing to start working on these questions.The experts are part of our ecosystem, their services do not cost anything extra. VentureLab wants to stimulate entrepreneurs in their ambitions on all fronts. To this end, VentureLab not only makes knowledge and expertise available, but it also offers a variety of networks and facilities.’
VentureLab North in practice
Eight companies
tell about their plans,
about what they have
achieved, and what
VentureLab North
meant for them
A pressure cooker that prepares businesses and business plans for the market under high pressure. This is how the VentureLab programme brought the company SeaQurrent – owned by CEO and founder Youri Wentzel – considerably closer to a successful launch on the market.
Visionary, idealistic and a technical feat. The under-
water kite invented by Youri Wentzel has it all.
SeaQurrent uses the kite to generate energy from
the current of the seawater – pure, green electricity.
One kite developed by SeaQurrent has the capacity
to supply electricity for about seven hundred
households.
Living up to expectationsWentzel is currently working on the first practical
test of the SeaQurrent underwater kite on the high
seas. This will be a baptism of fire for the kite. In the
run-up to this point, the entire theoretical part has
been fully calculated, detailed cost-price analyses
have been drawn up and the operation has been
tested in lab conditions at the Maritime Institute
Netherlands (MARIN). The product has to prove itself
now. Wentzel is fully confident in this respect. ‘All
the lights are on green,’ he says.
The revolutionary kite combines Wentzel’s
passions for technology, sailing and enterprise.
‘My background is in the energy, oil and gas sector
and sailing is my hobby. During long trips, I reflected
on options to source energy from the powerful
underwater currents. I wondered why we barely
use them and how you could use them.’
seaqurrent.com
Not on your ownWentzel got in touch with VentureLab during the
development phase of the kite. He realised all too
well that all the technology and idealism fused in his
project do not guarantee commercial success. ‘We
started from technology. Dimensions such as price
and market were less of a priority. Participation in
the VentureLab programme forced us to pay more
attention to these factors.’ This resulted in the
decision to expand the SeaQurrent team, among
other things. ‘I realised you cannot run this
business on your own.’
Wentzel and his team were able to update their
knowledge of additional subjects with the help of
VentureLab. ‘The programme was broad and varied.
It made it very valuable to us. What we learned
we processed in our presentations and we used
it to improve our business plan. Our plans were
continually subject to a critical view, via the Business
Panel presentations as well as through the coaching.’
Quite a taskSure, participation in the VentureLab programme
is intensive. Wentzel followed weekly VentureLab
meetings, workshops and coaching programmes as
far as possible. ‘It was quite a task. You are in a start-
up phase, so you have to have a solid commitment
to the business. The question is whether the
investment is useful: it certainly was.’
SeaQurrent - Youri Wentzel
Pressure cooker
Canvas model‘It was very helpful to me – for example the canvas
model that served as a short checklist for your
business plan, but also the presence of all these
young, perhaps inexperienced but creative student
entrepreneurs. If I had not done these courses, I
would have encountered more unpleasant surprises.’
CTA has a test location for engines at Zernike
Campus Groningen, a hangar with two test planes
in Teuge and a dynamic aeroplane test location
at Braunschweig airport. The business itself still
consists of Cappelle and two employees.
PartnersBesides the NLR, Hanze University of Applied
Sciences and Braunschweig University of
Technology, he has found partners in the US: engine
manufacturer Lycoming and an aeroplane builder
with whom he develops the retrofit, starting with
a twin-engine Piper 44 aeroplane flying on LNG,
liquid natural gas.
By the time this is tested in 2020, at least three
million euros will have been invested. It is only
then that he can finally start earning, from issuing
licences for the technology and the fuel. But for
Cappelle it is not just about his business: ‘I actually
want to leave a cleaner aviation. I want to have
brought something about in my life.’
Clean Tech Aviation was founded in 2008 to experiment with fuels in aviation. Founder and driving force behind the business Ben Cappelle (61) was an air force officer and flight school owner himself. Cappelle believes flying can be far cleaner and cheaper.
In order to test this idea, the entrepreneur from
Marum initially experimented with biomethanol as
a fuel for an old Antonov 2, a double decker with
which he managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
TestingThis experiment alone was an enterprise in both
senses of the word: ‘A couple of investors, including
myself, invested tens of thousands of euros in the
acquisition of this plane, and in an insane way
we finally managed to get a few hundred litres of
biomethanol into Canada, from where we could
fly to Teuge Airport via Greenland, Iceland and
Scotland. The methanol mixture did not have a
negative effect on the filters for the motor fuel,
which was one of things we wanted to test. But
we had burnt our capital after this flight.’
Don’t give upThe business subsequently went into hiatus for a
couple of years, but Cappelle did not want to give
up on his ambition. ‘I love aviation, I believe the
technology is fun, but it should be sustainable.
I still wanted a cheaper and less ‘fossil’ fuel, adapt
an engine to this and get aeroplane builders to
the point where they dare to try it.’
This is where VentureLab came in. He knew pace-
setter Aard Groen from previous participation in
a VentureLab in Twente and was challenged once
again to explain his plans. He did this so well in fact
that Cappelle was offered participation in the entire
VentureLab programme for free and his business
received the incentive prize of 10,000 euros as a
finalist.
ctainnovation.com
Don’t give up on ambitions
Clean Tech Aviation - Ben Cappelle
Med-E Link came to life in 2013 in a Los Angeles children’s hospital as a legal entity for founder Rutger Flink, who was hired there for other tasks following his internship at the intensive care unit. One such task was the development of software for intensive care units.
Once he was back in the Netherlands, Flink conti-
nued to build on this plan. When it became evident
that investments were not possible contractually,
he shifted his attention to the development of
hardware: ‘I have seen the inside of quite a few
intensive care units and I know what is required.’
More accurateHis new business aims to offer more accurate IC care
with the help of sensors. At this point, it is generally
based on a blueprint of the patient, for example
based on their weight and age. By monitoring the
condition of the patient with sensors, it is possible
to include far more factors in this care.
Although his business already existed, he was cer-
tainly not an experienced entrepreneur. ‘I was still
very green in 2013 so it was fortunate that I won
my pitch in 2016 during the EIT Health VentureLab
weekend, after which I could enrol in the Venture-
Lab programme.’
Mastering commercial sideEntrepreneurship is something I have in me, but
elements such as financing, marketing, sales and
all the pitfalls this entails required more attention.
I also learned that a solid academic grounding is
favourable when presenting your plans to investors,
but mastering the commercial side is very important
as well.’
medelink.nl
According to Fink, perhaps the most important thing
is that VentureLab ensures you end up in a strong
community with a broad network. ‘It would all have
been very difficult on my own. Without VentureLab
it would have taken longer to find investors who are
interested. It has worked as an accelerator for me.’
He is still in touch with participants of his own and
subsequent groups.
SharingFlink is still in the financing phase of his business.
The development of his product is expected to take
two more years. He is fully confident that he has
found a niche in the market and is still happy with
the support he received from VentureLab.
He is doing something back in return: ‘I update
participants on all the regulations with which they
will be faced in the medical-technological sector.
I have extensive knowledge in this field. You can
develop all manner of things as a start-up, but if your
product does not pass market registrations, you will
do it for nothing. I am pleased that I can share this
knowledge with others.’
Med-E Link - Rutger Flink
Avoiding pitfalls
The business owned by Faris Nizamic and Tuan Anh Nguyen is full of potential. Yet the founders of Sustainable Buildings chose to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills. VentureLab offered a solution.
Nizamic and his partner Nguyen won the RuG
Green Mind Award twice with their business plan.
Sustainable Buildings was not exactly lacking
in expertise with its team consisting of PhDs,
professors and other clever minds. However, you
will also have to recognise your not so strong
points as an entrepreneur. Nizamic is a realist.
OptimisationNizamic and Nuygen built their business based on
the idea that software-based monitoring can opti-
mise the use of buildings. ‘Look at the amount of
energy that is wasted in buildings. Lights are turned
on for no reason, PCs are switched on unused, empty
rooms are heated. It is a problem that does not have
to exist at all.’
Using software developed by the two partners,
they managed to considerably reduce the energy
consumption of a number of university buildings
via a number of showcase projects. ‘Monitoring
and adjustment of lighting resulted in savings of
68 per cent. However, having technology alone is
not enough.’
From scratch‘We were hungry,’ says CEO Nizamic. ‘But we knew
little about business. We realised that we needed to
know how to run a business. We really started from
scratch. Without launching customers, without cash.’
Convinced of the possibilities of their software,
they found the support they sought at VentureLab.
‘We walked into Startup City to have a drink with
Aard Groen. That proved a good decision
.ValuableThe question of how we should design a business
was the very first and biggest issue we had to solve
for ourselves. The financing, marketing and design
of the organisation still required a great deal of
tinkering. The Business Development Programme
proved highly valuable here.’
‘We were able to make a plan that worked,’ Nizamic
reflects. Crowdfunding resulted in a starting amount
and this is how Sustainable Buildings launched in
2016. ‘The VentureLab programme forced us to leave
technology for what it was once a week and focus
entirely on the business instead.’
A hands-on coach provided practical and theoretical
support and the VentureLab network provided the
first commercial assignments. ‘Demand continued
to grow. It really became time to launch a business.’
Preparation‘Perhaps we might also have succeeded using
our own methods,’ says Nizamic. ‘But the help of
VentureLab enabled us to properly prepare the set-
up of Sustainable Buildings. This saved us a great
deal of time. We could start running our business
sooner. The wording of the motto ‘running a
business, you have to run fast all the time’ does
not come out of thin air.’
Sustainable Buildings - Faris Nizamic, Tuan Anh Nguyen
Hungry for business
sustainablebuildings.nl
That the sum is often more than its parts is proven by biologist and entrepreneur Linda Dijkshoorn from EV Biotech. If you put together a physicist, a computer expert and a biologist, this will produce a striking innovation.
EV Biotech specialises in metabolic engineering, the company tinkers with genes. ‘We adapt bacteria genetically in order to create specialty chemicals,’ explains founder Dijkshoorn. EV Biotech does this for the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry and the plastics sector, among others.
Computer modelWhat EV Biotech does – modifying genetic material
from bacteria – is not unique. The company dis-
tinguishes itself because EV Biotech does not do the
work in a lab, but with a computer model that was
developed in-house. ‘It combines disciplines in a way
that has not been done before,’ says Dijkshoorn.
Ideal design‘With our digital model of bacteria, a large part of
the laboratory work can be done on the computer, in
a far shorter time as well,’ explains Dijkshoorn. ‘We
are therefore able to digitally create an ideal genetic
design of microorganisms in a very short timespan.’
For example for the production of bioplastics or a
new medicine.
FuroreThe new technology enabled EV Biotech to make
a name for itself very quickly, and the potential of
the business was soon recognised by industries and
investors. EV Biotech is currently working on a proof
of concept that is to demonstrate that the results of
the model also work on a more extensive scale.
PotentialIn order to be able to take that step, EV Biotech is
meeting with investors and financers. Dijkshoorn
has faith in it: ‘The idea has enormous potential,
everybody is blown away by its strength.’
Entrepreneurial spiritDijkshoorn emphasises that VentureLab has played
an important role in the creation of EV Biotech.
evbio.tech
‘The entrepreneurial spirit was already there.
I have had a homework institute for a long time
which enabled me to finance my master. I considered
the invitation for the VentureLab weekend to be a
great opportunity to achieve my dream: starting a
biotech company.’
The right questionsThe weekend did bring an unexpected turn of
events. ‘I went down there with an entirely different
business idea. But exactly the right questions were
asked, which put me on a different track and this
is how the idea for EV Biotech came about.’ During
a subsequent VentureLab Weekend, Dijkhoorn’s
pitch was chosen as one of the best business plans,
which came with a year-long participation in the
VentureLab programme.
AccelerationThis kicked the company into gear. ‘We were
provided with many entrepreneurial basics and there
was a sharp focus on our needs. It was a great help
that we were hooked up with a coach with expertise
in finance. The workshops in which we were critically
assessed also boosted our development. They also
provided a valuable network.’
IdealisticDijkshoorn has achieved her one dream in the
meantime. She can start work on the follow-up now.
‘There is definitely an idealistic side to it as well,’
she explains. ‘With EV Biotech, we wanted to make
a contribution to the transition from an economy
based on fossil fuels to an economy that is fully bio-
based. Sustainability is what drives us at the core.’
EV Biotech - Linda Dijkshoorn
Trailblazing
It was clear to Milan Vogelaar and his associate Niels Rop that digital learning programmes can reinforce training and schooling. With Stark Learning, they take this further by using virtual reality, gamification and serious games for training purposes.
Suppose you want to offer safety training to
employees of an industrial installation company.
A handbook is probably indispensable in this
case, but you cannot use it to prepare for complex
situations in practice. In order to be able to do this,
Stark Building developed a virtual factory where
employees can perform tasks as they perform them
every day. Vogelaar: ‘Virtual reality allows you to
create situations that are too complex or expensive
to simulate in practice. Think of extinguishing a fire.’
The seeds are sownSuch learning methods are very popular worldwide.
So there are opportunities. With the e-learning idea,
the seeds for Stark Learning were sown. Vogelaar
and Rop gained experience in the development
of classic courses around energy transition while
working for their previous employer. ‘These
courses were increasingly offered via an e-learning
programme. We saw opportunities there and
continued to develop e-learning by enriching it
with virtual reality, gamification and serious games.’
IncubatorVogelaar and Rop consciously started looking for
an accelerator or incubator programme. ‘We
viewed it as a suitable way to professionalise an
organisation or make it grow. We came into
contact with VentureLab fairly soon after the
launch of Stark Learning.’
Dream‘The more structured you work on the set-up of
a business, the greater the chance you become
successful and achieve your dream.’ Vogelaar
believes this is the essence of the VentureLab
programme.’ You have an idea. You want to test it
on the market. This is done intensively within the
VentureLab programme. You are tried and tested
to the point of irritation to find out whether your
business really has market opportunities.’
RunningParticipation in the VentureLab Business Programme
diverted attention away from the daily schedule for
Vogelaar and Rop. ‘You are constantly running fast,
but you are blinkered. When you start a business,
you are completely focused. VentureLab gives you a
wake-up call and showed us our blind spot.’
In a more practical sense, the VentureLab network
meetings offered Stark Learning the opportunity to
attract investors. The cash flow shortage in the initial
phase could be solved this way.
‘The VentureLab programme offered us the
opportunity to work on elements where we were
less strong. There are so many facets you are not
sufficiently aware of. Every starting entrepreneur
encounters this. Working with other entrepreneurs
on the business has helped us. We were able to learn
a great deal from each other.’
ChoicesYou work for your business all week long, you
work on your business one day a week,’ Vogelaar
summarises the VentureLab-programme. ‘That
obligation is quite a heavy burden, but it forces you
to critically reflect on the choices you make.’
Stark Learning - Milan Vogelaar, Niels Rop
Remove those blinkers
starklearning.nl
The business is currently collecting the final
financing, after which the test can be validated,
standardised and finally marketed. Founder Nutte
van Belzen (24) will have worked on it for two years
by then, he says: I started this project when I was
still a medical student. Together with two fellow
students, I was made aware of the discovery of
these genes during a course on entrepreneurship.
The researchers did not want to be entrepreneurs
themselves, and my fellow students resumed their
studies. But I started CC Diagnostics with my partner
Arnoud Huisman.’
MarketHis potential market is enormous because in the
Western world tens of millions of women are
checked for cervical cancer every five years. This
illness is almost always caused by a HPV virus and
can therefore be detected at an early stage. The
test by CC Diagnostics will mainly be a solution for
women who, based on the HPV test, are still in doubt
whether they have cervical cancer. Van Belzen:
‘We believe that our test – as a follow-up test –
can reduce the number of unnecessary referrals
for examination by a gynaecologist by a third. In
addition, the test is cheaper and more woman-
friendly because we can use the same samples as
in the primary HPV test.’
DecisiveVan Belzen also followed the VentureLab programme
after his successful entrepreneurship course.
This was a decisive step in his development: ‘I
developed from a student into an entrepreneur
during the VentureLab period. This has to do with
a different way of thinking. As a student, you just
do what is expected of you, while you have to use
opportunities, assess risks, and use your network in
a focused manner when you are an entrepreneur.
This is what I picked up there. Although I never
thought I would be an entrepreneur.’
Secure nestMoreover, Van Belzen gained a network of various
inspiring entrepreneurs at VentureLab: ‘Although
we are in totally different markets, we stimulate
new ideas in each other, sometimes with apparently
stupid questions.’
In anticipation of the moment he can go for it with
his business, he is expanding his network to other
parts of the Netherlands. ‘You have to dare to leave
your secure nest at some point. You are only a good
entrepreneur if you continue to develop yourself.’
CC Diagnostics - Nutte van Belzen
Growth fromstudent to entrepreneur
cc-diagnostics.com
As with so many spin-offs of UMCG, Groningen-based CC Diagnostics only focuses on one product at this point: a cheaper, but especially more reliable test for cervical cancer. The test is based on an invention by researchers from Groningen who have identified three genes that have a predictive value for susceptibility to this illness.
The VentureLab programme offers training courses every Friday morning and afternoon. The training schedule consists of training courses you can find in the overview. In addition, there is room for training courses on demand. The programme has three start dates a year. The set-up offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of creating a tailor-made training schedule.
Flexible Training Programme
Enactus Groningen occupies a special place among
the many incubators for start-ups in Groningen, as
it has only just been launched. It actually forms part
of a worldwide network that was founded in the
United States as an organisation to help beginning
entrepreneurs to make progress through good advice
and a small amount of financing. Every student
town in the Netherlands has one or more Enactus
departments now, and they are all affiliated with
an educational institution.
The Groningen branch of Enactus was set up in 2016
by three students of the University of Groningen.
Because the team is very young, the three companies
supported by Enactus (Selfles, United Kitchen and
Feestjesfabriek) are still in the start-up phase. An
example of such a company is one where young
people who are removed from the labour market
help to make glass bottles.
Ideas are welcome‘Our businesses are yet not profitable enough to earn
a living from, but they should be in the long term.
This enables us to recover our small investments and
invest in new start-ups. This only concerns a couple
of hundred euros we have to pay ourselves. And we
continue to assist them in terms of entrepreneurship,
with workshops and counselling. All good ideas are
welcome. The condition we impose is that it concerns
a social and sustainable business with a sound
business model.’ says chairwoman Amber
ten Brummelhuis from Enactus in Groningen.
enactus.nl
Gaining knowledgeIn order to be able to pass on expertise on entre-
preneurship, you will have to gain it of course.
VentureLab was one of the sources from which the
founding board of Enactus derived its expertise.
‘This made sense,’ says Ten Brummelhuis. ‘Just as
VentureLab, we were affiliated with the University
of Groningen. The route that was followed by the
previous board was a great help, as was the fact
that we could base ourselves in the inner city with
VentureLab. It would have been far more difficult
without VentureLab.’ In addition, VentureLab has
an extensive network that is used by Enactus in
the organisation of courses or lectures.
Responsible leadersFurthermore, Enactus Groningen strongly relies
on parent organisation Enactus Netherlands. Ten
Brummelhuis: ‘It aims to make us ‘responsible leaders’
by teaching us how to be involved in social and
sustainable entrepreneurship. This also involves an
administrative academy, peer reviews and company
visits.’
A more beautiful townTen Brummelhuis hopes that Enactus Groningen can
make the city a bit more beautiful with its projects.
Students are actually living in a small world. I believe
you kill two birds with one stone if you improve the
town in an entrepreneurial way.
Enactus - Amber Ten Brummelhuis
Advice for advisors
Strategic Capital / CEO
Basic trainings Entrepreneurial process & thinking
Strategy content Strategy context Stakeholder analysis and management
Impact
Skill trainings Business model (canvas)
Analyzing strategic environment
Certification trainings
Scalability & growth
Cooperation in networks / Strategic partnerships
Internationalization
Economic Capital / CFO
Basic trainings Management accounting
Financial accounting Corporate finance Financial sources Taxes
Skill trainings Financial modelling Bookkeeping Investor pitching
Certification trainings
Valuation Business angels & VC Subsidies
Cultural Capital / COO
Basic trainingsOrganizational culture & images of organization
Planning and lean analytics
Project management
Organizationalstructure and growth
Legal aspects of the company
Skill trainings Writing contracts, offertes
Hiring employeesProject management skills
Certification trainings
Developing a performance and appraisal system
Human resource management in SMEs
Procurement and Supply Chain Management: managing suppliers
Cultural Capital / CTO
Basic trainings Management of technology
New product development
Intellectual propertyTechnology adoption & diffusion
Customer integration in technology
Skill trainings Technology intelligence
Prototyping and MVP’s
Risk management for innovation projects
Certification trainings
Advanced management of technology
Advanced new product development
Open innovation & technology transfer
Social Capital / CMO
Basic trainings The concept marketing
Market analysis Customer validationMarketing instruments 1
Marketing instruments 2
Skill trainings Customer acquisition & sales
Negotiation Revenue modelsSocial Media for startups
Certification trainings
Valuable network resources
E-commerceCustomer value management
Buyer-supplier relations
Personal and Team Skils / all
Basic trainings You as an entrepreneur
Individual Development Plan - achieve your entrepreneurial goals
Personal effectiveness
Networking skills
Presentation skills
Conflict management
Skill trainings Entrepreneurial teams Team work Media training
Flexible Training Programme
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VentureLab NorthKadijk 4
9747 AT Groningen
www.venturelabinternational.com/[email protected]
+31 (0)50 - 363 40 05
Director: Prof. Dr. Aard GroenCoordinator: Aniek Ouendag