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Amsterdam is a great place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Amsterdam Founder Institute now open, we are excited to release the Amsterdam Startup Ecosystem Canvas! It was developed by the Amsterdam Founder Institute and local leaders Ana Radulvolski, Ivo Radulvolski, Orkun Ozbatur and Amine Khobba.

We spent about 20 hours doing this research, but this is just the first draft. More input is needed, so please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document and it will be considered for the next update.

Are you looking to build a startup in Amsterdam? Then apply to the Amsterdam Founder Institute today

A text version is included below, for searchability:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. IDEA-STAGE

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

Inspire:

  • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
    1. Emerce

    2. Impact Hub Amsterdam Blog
    3. Innovation Exchange Amsterdam News
    4. Silicon Canals
    5. Silicon Luxembourg
    6. Sprout
    7. StartupAmsterdam News
    8. StartupDelta
    9. Startup Digest Amsterdam
    10. StartupJuncture
  • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
    1. Amsterdam TechMeetups

    2. Big Data Amsterdam
    3. Bitcoin Wednesday Amsterdam
    4. Blockchain Startup Weekend Amsterdam
    5. Blockchain Talks
    6. Creative Mornings
    7. Girl Code
    8. Golang Amsterdam
    9. GOTO Nights Amsterdam
    10. Growth Hacker Talk
    11. Hackers & Founders
    12. Impact Hub Amsterdam | Events
    13. IT Development Café
    14. ITNEXT
    15. Ladies that UX Amsterdam
    16. Let's Code Together - Women's Code Club in Amsterdam
    17. Permanent Beta
    18. Permissionless Society Blockchains
    19. R-Ladies Amsterdam
    20. Rockstart Amsterdam
    21. Silicon Veluwe
    22. Startup Weekend Amsterdam
    23. Tech Leader Club
    24. TECH Talks Meetup Amsterdam
    25. TNW Conference


Educate

    1. Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like Startup Founder 101, etc).

      1. AEM Developer Meetup NL

      2. Agilists Sharing Knowledge
      3. Amsterdam Java User Group
      4. AmsterdamPHP
      5. Amsterdam Python Meetup Group
      6. Amsterdam Salesforce User Group / Meetup
      7. Amsterdam UX
      8. AWS Amsterdam
      9. Cloud Architectures Meetup
      10. Data Analytics Amsterdam Meetup
      11. Data Donderdag
      12. DesignThinkers Academy
      13. Dutch Devops Engineers
      14. Dutch Legal Tech Meetup
      15. Elastic User Group NL
      16. Frontend Developer Meetup Amsterdam
      17. Holacracy Meetup Group
      18. Honeypot Tech Talks Amsterdam
      19. I amsterdam
      20. ING Banking of Things
      21. JavaScript Lab Amsterdam
      22. Lead Developers Amsterdam
      23. Learning to Code Amsterdam
      24. Machine Learning Netherlands
      25. NLHTML5
      26. PipelineAI Advanced Spark and TensorFlow Meetup Amsterdam
      27. Startup Founder 101 Amsterdam
      28. Startup Grind Amsterdam
      29. Toon Tech Talks
      30. Uber Engineering Events: Amsterdam
      31. VueJS Meetup Amsterdam


  1. Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, etc)

    1. amst-R-dam

    2. Amsterdam Data Science Meetup
    3. Amsterdam Kubernetes/Cloud-Native Meetup
    4. Amsterdam Medical Data Science
    5. Amsterdam Startup: Idea to IPO
    6. Analytics & Data Science by Dataiku Amsterdam
    7. Analytics & Optimization Meetup Group
    8. B. Startup School Amsterdam
    9. Behavior Design AMS
    10. Blue Harvest Meetups
    11. Business Model Challenge
    12. CocoaHeadsNL
    13. Codaisseur Academy Amsterdam
    14. Codam
    15. Codestar Night
    16. DataLab Amsterdam
    17. Data Science Dojo
    18. Delitelabs
    19. DevOps Amsterdam
    20. DigitalOcean Amsterdam
    21. Domain Driven Design Nederland
    22. Figma Amsterdam
    23. Founder Institute
    24. Google Developer Groups Netherlands
    25. Growth Tribe Academy
    26. Hack Your Future
    27. How To F$&^% Manage Lean Startups
    28. IBM Code Amsterdam
    29. Insurtech Amsterdam
    30. Ironhack
    31. Javascript Workshops
    32. Lean Startup Machine
    33. Lean Startup Workshop
    34. Lean UX Amsterdam
    35. Le Wagon Amsterdam
    36. Le Wagon Amsterdam Meetup
    37. Liberating Structures User Group
    38. Machine Learning Amsterdam
    39. PostgreSQL User Group NL
    40. Rust Amsterdam
    41. Startup Boot
    42. Startupbootcamp Amsterdam
    43. Startup in Residence Amsterdam
    44. Startup Founder 101
    45. StartupMaze Meetup Amsterdam
    46. Startup Nation @ Amsterdam
    47. Startups Amsterdam
    48. Strategic Design Sandbox
    49. Tech Leader  Club
    50. The App Academy
    51. The Talent Institute
    52. Ubiqum
    53. Visser & Van Baars - The BI & Big Data Network
    54. Women Startups & Entrepreneurs Amsterdam


Validate:

    1. Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching”)

      1. Amsterdam.rb

      2. Amsterdam UX Cocktail Hours
      3. Amsterdam Women in Technology
      4. Code Nomads
      5. CoFoundersLab
      6. Expats in Tech (Amsterdam & The Netherlands)
      7. Food Integrity Blockchained
      8. FounderDating
      9. Holland FinTech Meetup
      10. Innovation Exchange Amsterdam
      11. Next Generation Startup – Amsterdam
      12. PWN Amsterdam
      13. Spark
      14. StartupBlink Amsterdam
      15. Startup Boot
      16. Startup Boot Businesses Networking Meetup
      17. Startup Sucht
      18. Talent Acquisition | Recruitment in Startups and Scale Ups
      19. The Happy Startup School Amsterdam Meetup


  1. Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)

    1. ADE Hackathon

    2. adidas Hackathon
    3. Coding with Craftsmen
    4. Design Thinking Masterclass Hackathon
    5. eiOS HACKATHON
    6. Hackers and Founders Amsterdam
    7. Hacks/Hackers Amsterdam
    8. Holland FinTech & Rehive: Blockchain & Fintech Hackathon
    9. Holochain Hackathon
    10. Internet-of-Things Sensemakers
    11. Lag
    12. Makerversity
    13. Pop-Up Creativity Hub Meetup
    14. Smart City Hackathon
    15. Stupid Hackathon
    16. Technologia Incognita
    17. VR 020 Meetup
    18. ZB45 Makerspace


2. LAUNCH-STAGE

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

Start:

  1. Establish: Law firms & banks for startups  

    1. ABN AMRO

    2. Baker McKenzie
    3. Blenheim
    4. Dentons
    5. Deutsche Bank
    6. Hogan Lovells
    7. HSBC
    8. ING
    9. Innoleaps
    10. LXA The Law Firm
    11. Rabobank
    12. Russell Advocaten
    13. SNS Bank
    14. We are Builders
    15. Wintertaling Advocaten & Notarissen

  1. Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)

    1. #Workmode

    2. A Lab
    3. Atoomclub
    4. B. Amsterdam
    5. Bouncespace Amsterdam
    6. Charley’s
    7. Chateau
    8. Hackers & Founders
    9. Impact Hub Amsterdam
    10. Mindspace
    11. Nest
    12. Plant22
    13. Primalbase
    14. ScaleHub
    15. Spaces (various locations)
    16. Spring House
    17. StartDock
    18. Startup Village
    19. The Thinking Hut
    20. TSH CollabHome
    21. WeWork
    22. Wheelhouse
    23. Workspace 6
    24. TNW


Develop

    1. Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.

      1. 100grams

      2. Adams Multilingual Recruitment
      3. Amsterdam Bookkeeper
      4. Biglyft
      5. Blue Lynx
      6. Broadstreet
      7. Dutch Accountants
      8. ENDROiT
      9. Expatax
      10. Hillbrook
      11. iBault
      12. Label305
      13. Lighthouse Finance
      14. M2mobi
      15. Projob
      16. Sprigs
      17. Undutchables Recruitment Agency


  1. Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS)

    1. 15KM

    2. ACE Incubator
    3. Amsterdam Innovation Arena
    4. Amsterdam Venture Studios
    5. Antler
    6. Clinic
    7. Impact Hub Amsterdam
    8. Innovation Exchange Amsterdam
    9. Kitchen Republic
    10. Let It Grow Lab Incubator
    11. NLC
    12. Open-House
    13. StartupDelta
    14. theGROUNDS
    15. TQ Amsterdam
    16. UtrechtInc
    17. Viisi Labs
    18. XRBase
    19. YesDelft!
    20. zorgInc


Launch

    1. Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)

      1. 512 Concepts

      2. Accelerate Impact Hub Amsterdam

      3. Booking Booster

      4. Business Accelerator

      5. Collider

      6. Fashion for Good - Plug and Play Accelerator

      7. HealthInc

      8. ING Innovation Studio

      9. Investment Ready Program

      10. Marriott TestBED

      11. Million Monkeys

      12. NEXT Amsterdam

      13. Open-House

      14. Present Your Startup

      15. Rockstart Accelerator

      16. Startupbootcamp Commerce Amsterdam

      17. Startupbootcamp FinTech & CyberSecurity Amsterdam

      18. Startupbootcamp Smart City & IoT Amsterdam

      19. Startup in Residence

      20. Startup Launch Class

      21. Techstars Arcadis City of 2030 Accelerator

      22. The Main Ingredient

      23. VR Base


  1. Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)

    1. ACE Demo Day

    2. Amsterdam Capital Week 2018 Pitch Events
    3. Amsterdam Smart City Open House
    4. Amsterdam Startup Pitch Night
    5. Music Pitch
    6. Pitch Perfect- How to make sure your ideas have a voice.
    7. Present Your Startup
    8. Startupbootcamp Commerce Amsterdam 2018 Demo Day
    9. StartUp Scan
    10. TheNextWomen Pitch Competition
    11. TNW Startup Pitch Program



3. GROWTH-STAGE

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

Recognition

    1. Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)

      1. Access Silicon Valley Amsterdam

      2. Amsterdam Capital Week 2018
      3. Amsterdam Investor Forum 2018
      4. Business Angels Netwerk Nederland
      5. Capital Tour XXL
      6. Innovation Holland
      7. Leapfunder
      8. Netherlands Investment Network
      9. Startup Angels


  1. Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)

    1. De Telegraaf

    2. De Volkskrant
    3. DutchNews
    4. Het Financieele Dagblad
    5. Metro
    6. NL Times
    7. NRC
    8. Parool
    9. The Next Web (TNW)
    10. TROUW


Funding

    1. Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors (search AngelList, Gust, Crunchbase)

      1. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten

      2. Chang Ng
      3. Cok Mudde
      4. Dag Ainsoo
      5. Ernstjan Albers
      6. Floris RvT
      7. Ian Zein
      8. Johan van Mil
      9. Koen Bok
      10. Michael Kinsbergen
      11. Patrick de Laive
      12. Patrick de Zeeuw
      13. Raymond Spanjar
      14. Ray Quintana
      15. Robert Verwaayen
      16. Rune Theill
      17. Ruud Hendriks
      18. Sander van der Blonk
      19. Steven van Houwelingen
      20. Thijs Gitmans
      21. Willem-Jan Schutte
      22. Wouter Gort
      23. Wouter Kneepkens
      24. Yuri Warczynski
    2. Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond

      1. ACT Venture Partners

      2. Aescap Ventures
      3. Amsterdam Venture Partners
      4. Anterra Capital
      5. Avedon Capital Partners
      6. Clever Clover
      7. Endeit Capital
      8. EQT Ventures
      9. EVO Venture Partners
      10. Finch Capital
      11. henQ
      12. Holland Venture
      13. HPE Growth Capital
      14. Inkef Capital
      15. Keen Venture Partners
      16. Life Science Partners
      17. Merck Ventures
      18. Peak Capital
      19. Prime Ventures
      20. Sequoia Amsterdam
      21. SET Ventures
      22. VOC Capital Partners
      23. Volta Ventures
      24. Vortex Capital Partners


Growth

      1. Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)

        1. Allianz

        2. Amaska Verzekeringen B.V.
        3. Aquent
        4. Flexas
        5. Instant Offices
        6. Meliténe
        7. Merkelbag Adviesgroep
        8. Octagon
        9. Randstad
        10. Regus
        11. Robert Half
        12. Russell Reynolds Associates
        13. Search Office Space
        14. We Have Any Space
        15. Willy Smits Assurantiën bv
      2. Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)

        1. A.T. Kearney

        2. Accenture
        3. Alvarez & Marsal
        4. Aon
        5. Bain & Company
        6. BearingPoint
        7. BLOOM
        8. Boston Consulting Group
        9. Capgemini
        10. Deloitte
        11. Egon Zehnder
        12. Ernst and Young
        13. Gartner
        14. Grant Thornton
        15. Hill+Knowlton Strategies
        16. Kantar Millward Brown
        17. Kantar TNS Nederland
        18. KPMG
        19. Mazars
        20. McKinsey & Company
        21. Milliman
        22. Protiviti
        23. PwC
        24. Roland Berger
        25. Tata Consultancy Services
        26. Willis Towers Watson



4. SUCCESS STORIES

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. Adyen

  2. Agendia
  3. Bloomon
  4. Booking.com
  5. Bynder
  6. eBuddy
  7. Fairphone
  8. Filippo Loreti
  9. Framer
  10. Instant Magazine
  11. MessageBird
  12. Mews Systems
  13. Olery
  14. Paperspace
  15. PartyWith
  16. PastBook
  17. Peecho
  18. Peerby
  19. Picnic
  20. Silk
  21. SkinVision
  22. Springest
  23. Takeaway.com
  24. The Cirqle
  25. Tiqets
  26. Usabilla
  27. WeTransfer



Supporters


To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. EVANGELISTS

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.  (i.e. Local leaders who have taken a leadership position, speak at a lot of startup events, mentor all the programs, etc)

  1. Amine Khobba

  2. Arpad Gerecsey
  3. Ana Radulovski
  4. Bart den Haak
  5. Bas Tichelaar
  6. Bas van Essen
  7. Bram Kuijken
  8. Bruno Armindo Esteves Macedo
  9. Daan Weddepohl 
  10. Daniele Dondi
  11. David Dwinger
  12. Don Ritzen
  13. Eline Vliegen
  14. Enno Masurel
  15. Erik Boer
  16. Esther Emmely Gons
  17. Ger Baron
  18. Henk van Raan
  19. Ingrid Wakkee
  20. Ivo Radulovski
  21. Janneke Niessen
  22. Jim Stolze
  23. Johan van Mil
  24. Jose Manuel Rodriguez Martinez
  25. Katalin Gallyas
  26. Lori DiVito
  27. Merle Freeke
  28. Miguel Heilbron
  29. Nick Reineman
  30. Oliver de Leeuw
  31. Orkun Ozbatur
  32. Régy Bergen
  33. Rene Pot
  34. Rob van der Burgt
  35. Ronald Kleverlaan
  36. Ruben Horbach
  37. Ruben Nieuwenhuis
  38. Shyaam Ramkumar
  39. Simone Brummelhuis
  40. Tamas Erkelens
  41. Tatiana Glad
  42. Timan Rebel
  43. Wouter van Hulten
  44. Yuval Engel


2. GOVERNMENT

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development

  1. AmCham: Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands

  2. Amsterdam Economic Board
  3. Amsterdam Smart City
  4. Amsterdam Tech City
  5. CCI France Pays-Bas
  6. Innovation Exchange Amsterdam
  7. Invest in Amsterdam
  8. KVK Chamber of Commerce
  9. amsterdam inbusiness
  10. StartupAmsterdam



3. TALENT

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  1. Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)

    1. Amsterdam University College

    2. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
    3. Amsterdam University of the Arts
    4. University of Amsterdam
    5. University of Luxembourg Incubator Ideation Camp
    6. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam


  1. Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices)

    1. Amazon

    2. Apple
    3. Booking.com
    4. Cisco
    5. Dell
    6. Facebook
    7. Google
    8. HP
    9. Huawei
    10. IBM
    11. Infosys
    12. Intel
    13. Juniper Networks
    14. KLM
    15. Microsoft
    16. Netflix
    17. Oracle
    18. Philips
    19. Samsung
    20. Takeaway.com
    21. Tesla
    22. Travix
    23. Uber
    24. VEON
    25. Vodafone
*  *  *

Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Amsterdam Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Amsterdam? Then apply to the Amsterdam Founder Institute today


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