On Thursday evening, a meetup for passionate entrepreneurs, freelancers, and leaders was held in M by Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven. The meetup focussed on Startup strategies and funding options for Startups in the Brainport Region.
Startup funding
The guest speaker for this meetup was Mr. Piet van der Wielen, Program Director of Business at Brainport Development. In his speech, Mr. van der Wielen spoke about how sharing knowledge, smart entrepreneurship, and close collaboration are the hallmarks of the open innovation culture. These make Brainport Eindhoven the ‘growth accelerator’ of the Dutch economy. He spoke at length about the several possibilities to get one’s startup activities funded in this region. ‘It depends on the type of startup and the life phase your startup is in to know which funding is best,” said Mr. van der Wielen. “In an early stage, funding is available in the form of grants. After that, there’re several loans.” The ability to pitch your product or service well to a group of investors is of utmost importance, he emphasised. Vishwanath NG from the Indian Center in the Netherlands (ICIN) hosted the event in association with Holland Expat Center South and Brainport Eindhoven.
Dutch history of entrepreneurship
The other speaker was Prachee van Brandenburg, Vice-Chairman of the Foundation India-Dutch Financial Corridor and leader of the D66 party, Leiderdorp. She talked about the climate of entrepreneurship in the Netherlands and how the Dutch East India Company (VOC) started operating in India and South Asia. “The Dutch created innovative financial organisations such as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, and the VOC became the first company listed on the stock exchange,” she said.
The entrepreneurs and freelancers also asked for information and tips and raised queries about the challenges they faced. After the event, there was an opportunity to meet and network with other entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals who understood the unique journey of being a freelancer.
A report by Chaitali Sengupta
