Posts

The 4 technical universities (4TU), including the University of Twente and WUR, are joining forces with three medical academic centers and venture investor Innovation Industries to bring medical technical (medtech) solutions to the market faster. This week, the Ministries of EZK and OCW awarded 8 million euros to the medtech consortium from the Thematic Technology Transfer (TTT) scheme. This TTT scheme is best practice in Europe in the field of support for spin-offs, incubators and universities. The consortium aims to further expand the good international position of the Dutch medtech sector.

This TTT scheme is best practice in Europe in the field of support for spin-offs, incubators and universities. The consortium aims to further expand the good international position of the Dutch medtech sector.

Technological innovations are desperately needed to keep healthcare affordable, qualitative and manageable in the long term. However, the route to the market is very complex and difficult for medtech spin-offs. The Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTO) of TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, University of Twente and Wageningen University & Research, together with the KTOs of Erasmus MC, RadboudUMC and Maastricht UMC, and VC fund Innovation Industries, are building a national and open program.

Less downtime and faster to the market

“The initiative for this application comes from 4TU, with the University of Twente as lead party,” says Roy Kolkman, Manager of the KTO of the University of Twente. “With this investment we lay an excellent foundation for the medtech spin-offs in the Netherlands. By enriching the breeding ground with the right knowledge and expertise, the chance of failure is smaller and the time-to-market is shortened. ”

Better propositions

“By joining forces between UMCs and TUs, we arrive at strong propositions,” says Thijs Spigt, KTO director of Erasmus MC. “The knowledge and experience within the consortium ensures faster validation and a better business proposition. Extensive attention is paid to clinical demand, technical feasibility and business development. ”

Expansion of leading position

“The Netherlands is a frontrunner in the development of new technologies. However, bringing it to market is a major challenge. We invest in this consortium and do everything we can to make it a success. In addition to capital, we make an important contribution with our knowledge, experience and network, “says Pleuni Hooijman, fund manager at Innovation Industries.”

Source: Health Valley news

Eindhoven University of Technology’s innovative learning environment, innovation Space, has been nominated for the Dutch Higher Education Prize. The award ceremony will be held on March 1.

“I learned from the outset how to make a prototype.” “The instructor gave me the confidence to try out my ideas.” “The teachers motivated us to go even further than we ever thought possible before we took the course.” These are just a few quotes from an evaluation of courses at Innovation Space. An open community where students, student teams, student entrepreneurs and researchers work in interdisciplinary teams together with businesses and civil society organizations on the challenges of today and the future. Innovation Space is a finalist along with the Urban Futures Studio from Utrecht University and the ‘Re-imagining Tomorrow through Arts and Sciences’ minor from Erasmus University.

Innovation in education

This new education award serves as a great token of appreciation for teacher teams that are achieving outstanding results. According to the website of the Dutch government, it also motivates teachers to continue with innovation in education and knowledge sharing. TU/e innovation Space is to receive half a million euros in prize money. That amount could rise even further to 1.2 million euros once the Minister of Education, Culture & Science announces on March 1 who is in first, second and third place.

“It’s a national acknowledgement of what we have been working on for the past five years,” says Professor Isabelle Reymen proudly. She and two other faculty members were at the forefront of what has grown into the student community that it is today. “Five years, ago we started out very small with two or three courses.” Meanwhile, 2200 students take 38 courses there, the teaching team has grown to 27 teachers in charge and 120 teachers are involved.

Creating impact

There were two main reasons driving innovation in education, Reymen explains. “We are dealing with a different generation of students. They really want to create impact, to improve the world.” At first she thought it was one student who wanted to graduate in Sustainable Energy, “but no, it was one after another. You have to offer education to these students in a different way. By addressing their passion and challenging them.”

As the second reason, Reymen cites industry, in particular, the Brainport region, which she says: “Just craves different kinds of employees. Engineers of the future who can really work together in interdisciplinary teams, have an entrepreneurial attitude and are able to think on a systems level.”

Reymen and her colleagues drew inspiration from abroad. “We combined that with our experiences with the student teams that we already had. Even though students don’t gain any study credits for that, you could just see that students there were working on what they are passionate about and learning a lot.”

World Champions

For instance, Team Solar built a car that runs on solar energy. The team became world champions four times in Australia. “That’s just fantastic, those students learn an awful lot. Not only about working together, but also about applying that battery technology in the real world. They used the know-how they learned and all that new knowledge and insights, because they wanted to become world champions, of course.”

Challenge-Based Learning forms the basis of the learning environment. With this, students work on relevant social problems for challenge-owners from the field. “Real-life clients for whom the students come up with a solution.” They work together on that solution from a variety of disciplines. Where applicable, they build a prototype and reflect on their work together.

Reymen herself teaches a course on innovation and entrepreneurship, the Innovation Space Project. “When you see what students learn in six months – that’s how long a course takes – it’s amazing. They have done something that they would never have thought possible. The self-confidence they gain from that is wonderful to see.” In addition to the courses, there are also activities that students do not receive any study credits for, such as the student teams. “There, too, you see students are really thriving and accomplishing some truly amazing things.”

Learning from each other

As did industrial design student Tom Cobbenhagen, who completed a Master’s project. He flourished due to the multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum. “What often happens at a university, and certainly at a technical one, is that people tend to stick to their own field. As a result, they come into less contact with other disciplines. It is precisely because you are thrown into a group here with all sorts of different backgrounds that you can combine those strengths. There is much more room to learn from each other. I didn’t end up deepening my studies, but actually broadening them. We learned to create an impact for the challenge owner – Eindhoven Airport. And its social goals: a solution to the mobility problem.”

Read more about the activities at TU/e innovation Space here.

Looking back, Reymen finds it “really wonderful that with a relatively small team, we can still make a major structural change in education at TU/e happen.” “I am most proud of the fact that we succeeded in doing that.”

The prize money has already been allocated. Reymen will use the money in any event to invest in a wider range of courses, “so that more students can come into contact with Challenge-Based Learning.” To that end, she wants to develop training courses for teachers to help them deal with challenge owners and coach them properly. “Also, we want to offer more choice in the courses and themes that students are interested in. Right now, we are still working on a course level; in time, we would really like to be able to give students an individual learning path.”

Working together with other schools

One example is an online platform so that students from different schools and universities in the Netherlands and Europe can work together on challenges. “We already work together with Fontys and with the four technical universities in the Netherlands and we are active in European Alliances. If you really want students to work together, you have to be able to do that very effectively online, because you’re not all in the same place at the same time.”

Should Innovation Space win the top prize, Reymen will be looking further into the future and envisioning innovative ecosystems. “At the moment, we are still taking on challenges ad hoc. We want to see if we can set up long-term partnerships so that we can work together in a more structural way with multiple partners. For example, a Sustainable Energy learning line, where citizens work with companies, and governments work with students and cross-disciplinary research groups at Eindhoven University of Technology.”

At the end of the second Comenius Festival on March 1, the Minister of Education, Culture & Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, will award the first Dutch Higher Education Prize.

Source: Innovation Origins

Press release Ministry of Economic Affairs and NAG, February 25, 2021.

The Netherlands Aerospace industry, represented by Mr. Lex Besselink, Chairman of the National Association for the Aerospace Industry NAG, and Airbus SAS, represented by Mrs. Grazia Vittadini, Airbus Chief Technology Officer, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, 25 February 2021. The signing of the MoU is an important step towards the future of sustainable aviation. The signing was witnessed by the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mrs. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, and the Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Mrs. Mona Keijzer, who both emphasized the importance of the agreement and the role of the Dutch industry in the realization of sustainable aircraft. In attendance were also the French Minister Delegate Mr. Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and the German Commissioner for the Digital Industry and Start-ups and Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy Mr. Thomas Jarzombek. The CEO of Schiphol, Mr. Dick Benschop, emphasized the support of the complete Netherlands aviation sector; the infrastructure, the operators and industry.

The purpose of the MoU between NAG and Airbus is to establish a long-term strategic relationship in the field of sustainable aviation research and innovation, for both academic and industrial parties. The dedication of Airbus to connect with the innovative and robust Dutch industry and knowledge centres is welcomed to enable a sound return of aerospace after the pandemic. “We look forward to reaching the goals set together and realising a healthy future business for both Airbus and the NAG members”, says Lex Besselink, Chairman of the Netherlands Aerospace Group.

The Netherlands aviation sector, as represented by the parties united in the Dutch Sustainable Aviation Roundtable in which both the NAG and Airbus participate, committed to ambitious CO2 reduction targets towards achieving zero emission aviation in 2070, including:

  • reaching CO2 emission levels of 2005 in the year 2030, and 50% less in 2050;
  • zero emission ground-based operations in 2030;
  • use of minimum 14% blended SAF in 2030;
  • replacement of all fossil kerosene by sustainable alternatives by 2050;
  • and aiming to be a frontrunner in aviation electrification.

The NAG members are committed to these agreements and they aim their Research and Innovation programme to fulfil these targets. Airbus welcomes the Netherlands’ ambitious government policy towards sustainable aviation which will contribute greatly to our industry-wide decarbonisation targets. “The Netherlands’ rich talent pool, capabilities and experience has always made it an attractive home base for Airbus”, said Grazia Vittadini, Airbus Chief Technology Officer. “We look forward to accelerating research and working towards disruptive technologies to achieve a sustainable future together.”

An important link in this MoU is the Dutch Government. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure and Water Management are closely involved in this cooperation.

“It is my mission to successfully position Dutch tech companies and our manufacturing industry”, said Mona Keijzer, State Secretary of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands. “After all, we want to remain an innovation leader. International cooperation creates jobs and income in the Netherlands. For example, when our entrepreneurs can develop and produce composites for aircraft. The signing of this MoU today means that we can keep engaging in this area. And this is important, so that when the aerospace industry climbs out of this corona crisis, it can continue to innovate and find sustainable solutions.”

Breakthroughs are needed for aviation to become more quiet and green.

“To realise CO2 reduction, focussing on sustainable aviation fuels and technological innovation, including novel aircraft designs and new types of propulsion is important”, says Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management. “The first steps have been taken, such as the world’s first passenger flight with a blend of 500 liters of synthetic kerosene. Let’s inspire each other and enter a new era for aviation together”.

Source: NAG news

The Seed Capital scheme, which RVO implements on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK), has existed for 15 years. Thanks to the scheme, the Dutch venture capital market has expanded enormously since 2005 and access to venture capital for start-ups has improved significantly. 87 Seed Capital funds have already been set up to provide 472 start-ups with venture capital. In total, more than € 414 million was invested, of which around € 203 million came from the government.

Thanks to these investments, good results have been achieved over the past 15 years. To commemorate its 15th anniversary, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) publishes the anniversary book “Innovative Netherlands in bloom – 15 years of Seed Capital 2005 – 2020”.

It contains interviews with a number of fund managers, in which some examples of success of participations pass in review. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and some advisory committee members also give their views on the scheme. Finally, the results of the past 15 years are clearly presented at the back. You can download the publication here (Dutch PDF).

Further development

The Seed Capital scheme has been further developed in recent years. For example, since the end of 2016 it has been possible to open sector-specific tenders that tie in with important economic and social themes such as sustainability, agri-horti-food and e-health. The separate e-health tender from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is a good example of this.

In addition, a separate section was opened in 2017 especially for couples of business angels: the Seed Business Angel scheme. Through this scheme, business angels deliver ‘smart money’ to start-ups in the very early stages of life by supporting them with their knowledge, network and experience.

New sectors

The Seed Capital advisory committee looks back with pride on the past 15 years and sees that the scheme is still desperately needed. Initially, mainly funds were set up with a focus on IT and life sciences. In recent years, more and more new funds have been added that focus on food, social impact and clean tech, for example. Chairman of the advisory committee Michel van Bremen therefore sees the Seed Capital scheme as a kind of icebreaker for new sectors: “Every time a new sector arises, the Seed Capital scheme attracts investors to it. Without the support of the Seed Capital scheme, they would not have dared to invest. After all, new segments are risky. ”

Cooperation

The Dutch health market benefits from e-health innovations due to the increasing demand for care. In order to attract more risk capital in this sector, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport sought cooperation with EZK. In 2017, this resulted in the opening of a separate e-health tender within the Seed Capital scheme. NextGen Ventures is one of the Seed Capital funds that was established thanks to this tender and that helps e-health start-ups in their development. According to fund manager Matthijs Blokhuis, the Seed Capital scheme makes NextGen Ventures easier and attracts more investors: “The fact that we meet the requirements for Seed Capital inspires confidence among investors. That makes it more attractive for me as a fund manager to invest early in start-ups in a risky market. ”

Over Seed Capital

The Seed Capital-scheme is aimd at innovative techno- and creative startups  who need access to risk capital investment. Since January 1, 2021 a new rond of the Seed Capital-regeling is open and investors can apply for funding to establish a new Seed Capital fund.

Are you an entrepreneur? You can apply direct to the Seed Capital investment funds. Check the complete alfabetical overview of funds (in Dutch) or the overview per sector.