A new collaboration between the Amsterdam universities has been set up to support students and researchers wanting to start their own business. On December 17, UvA, VU, HvA, and Amsterdam UMC signed a stakeholder agreement with university incubator ACE to collectively support spin-off companies. ACE supported over 150 startups from Amsterdam universities in the past five years, but there is still an incredible amount of hidden opportunities. Thousands of researchers work on scientific innovations and breakthrough technologies every day that have huge market potential. Formalizing the collaboration between ACE and all five university institutions increases ACE’s capacity to organize supporting programs on all city campuses and to recruit talent.
The Amsterdam universities are increasingly expanding their collaboration with regards to innovation, entrepreneurship and valorization. In 2014, the universities brought together their expertise in Amsterdam Knowledge Transfer Office: IXA. At the end of 2017, the collective platform Amsterdam Venture Studios (AVS) was launched. AVS offers starting companies physical space at a university campus, as well as training, support and an access to university networks. Additionally, the universities will now work together within the ACE incubator program, ensuring all Amsterdam students and researchers access to an intensive trajectory of support, coaching and mentoring from startup coaches and business experts.
ACE programs are supported by Innovation Exchange Amsterdam (IXA)
At ACE (Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship), we are passionate about innovative tech and science-based ideas. We help students, researchers, and alumni turning ideas into successful companies, by offering the best training & support, and providing access to an extensive network of mentors, entrepreneurs and business professionals.
Companies that have participated in the ACE program have seen great success thus far, with Scyfer (UvA) being acquired by IT firm Qualcomm in 2017 and fast-growing scale-ups making their mark within a variety of industries on a national and international level. Companies such as Lumicks (VU), Metrica Sports (UvA) and Radically Open Security (VU) are now working with teams of 30-50 employees and selling their products and services on a global scale. The successes of these companies have strengthened the belief that opening up additional resources will create more chances for startups to become successful.
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