Academic Startup Program 2021
Follow the (digital) journey of the winners of the Academic Startup Competition to the West Coast
The Program
A unique digital program, composed by the Consulate of San Francisco and Holland in the Valley, to help the Academic Startups grow their business and build a community.
This program is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
PREP SESSIONS
November 2020 - January 2021
For more details on this invite-only program please go to the platform.
THE PROGRAM
January 26, 2021 - March 3, 2021
26/01 Opening Event | 16:15-19:00
03/01 Closing Event
For more details on this invite-only program please go to the platform.
BONUS SESSIONS
March 2021 - May 2021
For more details on this invite-only program please go to the platform.
The winners of 2020
In November 2020 the ten winners of the prestigious Academic Startup Competition 2020 have been named as Bimini Biotech, DeNoize, Digi.Bio, IamFluidics, Kaminari Medical, Lusoco, NC Biomatrix, Taylor, uCrowds and VanBoven.
Ground-breaking innovations in various fields, including Life Sciences, Health, High Tech, Energy, Logistics and Agri-food. The winners were selected based on their value proposition, the innovative character of the technology involved, the potential of their business and profit model, and the startup team composition.
Watch the pitches from the Pitch & Connect Event
Meet the startups
Bimini Biotech BV
Company website: https://biminibiotech.nl/
Knowledge Institution: University Medical Center Utrecht
Sector: Life sciences and health
Value Proposition: BIMINI Biotech is an innovative spin-off from the University Medical Center Utrecht that is developing small molecule therapeutics for oncology. Our breakthrough approach targets cancer cells via the growth hormone receptor. We are now aiming to bring our first compound “BM001” towards the clinic to tackle the unmet needs in cancer.
IamFluidics B.V.
Company website: https://www.iamfluidics.com
Knowledge Institution: University of Twente
Topsector: High tech
Value Proposition: Many markets have products containing microparticles, including food, cosmetics, textiles, and pharma. However, current microparticle production methods are not sustainable and technologically not optimal to generate large quantities of high-quality products. IamFluidics offers several innovative, proprietary and scalable methods for producing high-quality and sustainable microparticles that can be used in the next generation of products in all of these markets."
NC Biomatrix bv
Company website: https://www.ncbiomatrix.com
Knowledge Institution: TU Eindhoven
Topsector: Life sciences and health
Value Proposition: Even though the causes of back pain are numerous (disc protrusion, bone spurs, narrowing of the spinal canal etc.), degenerative disc disease is the most prevalent cause (estimates vary from 25% to 30% of all patients with back pain. The NC Biomatrix product is an acellular processed matrix as a powder which is solubilised prior to injection into the spinal disc core. The primary mode of action is the restoration of disc volume and height thus re-establishing proper biomechanics of the treated spine segment which should in turn alleviate the lower back pain.
DeNoize
Company website: https://www.denoize.com
Knowledge Institution: TU Delft
Sector: High tech
Value Proposition: "DeNoize has developed an active noise cancellation technology for glass windows, offering over 90% reduction in the outdoor noise. By transforming any glass window into a smart system, we enable the future of real-estate with more comfortable and healthier living spaces.
Kaminari Medical B.V.
Company website: https://www.kaminarimedical.com
Knowledge Institution: Erasmus MC
Topsector: Life sciences and health
Value Proposition: Kaminari develops an intravascular coronary imaging catheter that will improve the outcome of heart catheterisations significantly. The Kaminari catheter combines intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and photoacoustics (PA) into IVPA to provide better information on both plaque location and composition. Ultrasound clearly visualizes the structure of the vessel wall and the plaque, while photoacoustics characterises the composition of the plaque. By identifying and treating treating vulnerable plaque with Kaminari's IVPA recatherizations can be prevented significantly.
Taylor
Company website: https://www.taylor.solar
Knowledge Institution: University of Technology Eindhoven
Topsector: Energy
Value Proposition: Performance mismatch in-between solar PV cells, due to non-uniform aging and shade, results in cell hotspots and a lower solar system yield (i.e. up to 20%). Taylor’s technology controls the performance per 10-20 cells, solving mismatch losses. This increases the yield of solar systems, whilst decreasing cabling and installation cost. Moreover, module diagnostics and shutdown result in increased fire safety and lower O&M cost.
Digi.Bio B.V.
Company website: https://www.digi.bio
Knowledge Institution: Vrije Universiteit
Sector: Life sciences and health
Value Proposition: Many promising novel therapies for cancer (and other immune related diseases) are built on the concept of cells reprogrammed to attack a specific enemy. Finding a good candidate across billions of cells is like looking for a needle in the haystack. We are building the magnet to fish them out.
Lusoco
Company website: https://www.lusoco.com
Knowledge Institution: Eindhoven University of Technology
Topsector: High tech
Value Proposition: Lusoco creates sustainable illuminated signage using energy harvesting glass. Lusoco offers a solution, in which the image displayed generates energy itself and is able to shine during the night, reducing the power consumption to 0, while saving on installation costs. With this Lusoco solution the - normally energy consuming - illuminated billboard becomes climate neutral and off-grid, while decreasing the total cost of ownership.
uCrowds B.V.
Company website: https://www.ucrowds.com
Knowledge Institution: Utrecht University
Topsector: Logistics
Value Proposition: Our start-up offers a software solution and expert knowledge for simulating crowds in big infrastructures or events using state-of-the-art AI/VR technologies. We make the world a safer and more pleasant place by delivering our crowd simulation software to the market. By simulation, our software can be used to compute in how many minutes a metro station can be evacuated or to improve the crowd flow during big events.
VanBoven
Company website: www.vanboven.io.
Knowledge Institution: Wageningen University
Topsector: Agri-food
Value Proposition: VanBoven provides accurate 2-week harvest forecasts for fresh vegetables using a combination of AI and high-resolution drone imagery of the crops. Unlike satellite solutions and old-school gut feeling, VanBoven is able to objectively inspect every single vegetable in a field, resulting in unparalleled harvest forecasting accuracy for fresh crops."
Going digital
has a lot of advantages!
One of which is the introduction of our platform, powered by Mentorjam. On the platform, it’s easy for our community of mentors, investors and experts to get in touch with the Academic startups and vice versa. All communication, RSVP’s Event overview all take place here as well.
Going digital
has a lot of advantages!
One of which is the introduction of our platform, powered by Mentorjam. On the platform, it’s easy for our community of mentors, investors and experts to get in touch with the Academic startups and vice versa. All communication, RSVP’s Event overview all take place here as well.
About last year’s edition…
Remember those days? When it was still possible to offer the startups the opportunity to fly over to the West Coast for an experience of a lifetime? Enjoy the flashback in this video and know that we’re doing all we can to offer a different, but just as valuable, online experience for this year!
About the Academic Startup Competition
The Academic Startup Competition is an initiative of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centres, (NFU), Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI) and Techleap.nl, and is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The aim of the competition is to put valorisation and academic spinoffs in the spotlight.