{"id":114486,"date":"2017-08-22T12:28:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T10:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e52.nl\/?p=113809"},"modified":"2017-08-22T12:28:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T10:28:31","slug":"why-netherlands-is-the-new-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/why-netherlands-is-the-new-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Netherlands is the new Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every day we keep reading about the astounding progress happening in the world\u2019s high-tech leader \u2013 San Francisco\u2019s Silicon Valley. Yet, there is something we are missing. A rather small country geographically is gradually\u00a0transforming into the new power in tech innovations. With its everyday top-notch scientific and technological advancements and highly qualified workforce, the Netherlands\u00a0<\/strong>is steadily becoming the new Silicon Valley. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a\u00a0# 1 startup business climate in the European Union<\/a>, with its highly educated pool of tech-savvy experts, and its open corporate business culture, the homeland of Philips has shaped a rare startup ecosystem on the continent.<\/p>\n

Although comparing a whole country with an individual city might seem groundless, I will tell you something \u2013 it is not! Simply because it is not about comparing. The new Silicon Valley is bigger in terms of geographical size and population and bigger in terms disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Moreover, unlike the other two major European leaders in science and technology \u2013 UK and Germany, the Dutch technological prowess is not concentrated mainly in its capital city. Numerous booming tech hubs can be found all over the\u00a0country. The Dutch startup ecosystem spreads out from the south to its very north and its scientific and tech achievements can undoubtedly surpass those of the current high-tech backbone \u2013 San Francisco\u2019s Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

“The Netherlands has cultivated an exceptional ecosystem for disruptive innovation and development in high-tech and science, talented information technology workers, and aspiring entrepreneurship.”, <\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amsterdam<\/h3>\n

Amsterdam, or the startup capital of Europe and city\u00a0#3 of start-ups and scale-ups for 2016,<\/a>\u00a0is a magnet for tech-savvy talent and growth. The city\u2019s programs\u00a0StartupAmsterdam\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0StartupDelta\u00a0<\/a>help start-ups strengthen, connect and grow.\u00a0Amsterdam also houses\u00a0Amsterdam Science Park<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a juncture of high-quality technical facilities, research institutes, Science and Business Database, and\u00a0Start-Up Village<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a co-working space for innovative high-tech and science based start-ups.<\/p>\n

What is more, it was in Amsterdam\u2019s startup ecosystem where the unicorn FinTech company\u00a0Adyen\u00a0<\/a>was born. Adyen is now evaluated at\u00a0$2.3 billion and it provides\u00a0payment solutions for Netflix, Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb. Besides,\u00a0many Silicon Valley companies themselves have headquarters\u00a0in the city, including Google, Uber, and Cisco.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eindhoven<\/h3>\n

Eindhoven, the birthplace of Philips electronics, is also home to \u00a0\u201cthe smartest square kilometre in Europe\u201d \u2013\u00a0High Tech Campus<\/a>. The business park was originally the place where Philips Research (the NatLab) was located. Now, it is a melting pot of tech-savvy talent where more than 140 high-tech companies and institutes are located, such as ASML, IBM, Philips, NXP, and Intel, to name but a few.<\/p>\n

Besides, the city has a vast network of academic and R&D facilities including the\u00a0Eindhoven University of Technology<\/a>. Thanks\u00a0to its exceptional high-tech and design climate, the city has also attracted the Silicon Valley-based\u00a0Singularity University<\/a>\u00a0to open an innovation hub there. The mission of the innovation hub is to bring together industry leaders from start-ups, research institutions, businesses, and government to create and apply technology \u201cto address humanity\u2019s grand challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Groningen<\/h3>\n

Groningen, famously known as \u201cthe city of talent\u201d,\u00a0has the largest number of successful start-ups after Amsterdam, according to\u00a0Deloitte Fast50<\/a>. The ranking lists the 50 fastest growing Dutch technology companies. For 2016, twelve companies were based in Amsterdam, followed by seven in Groningen. Moreover, last year, the Internet giant Google opened its second\u00a0data centre in Eemschaven<\/a>\u00a0in North Groningen.<\/p>\n

Groningen also houses \u201cthe most ambitious business accelerator for startups\u00a0and existing companies in the Northern Netherlands\u201d \u2013\u00a0VentureLab North<\/a>. At the same time, the portal\u00a0Founded in Groningen<\/a>connects, supports and promotes start-ups, companies and initiatives with the impressive background of 435 companies Founded in Groningen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Delft<\/h3>\n

Delft, the manufacturing base for the famous\u00a0Delft pottery<\/a>, is home to the country\u2019s largest tech university \u2013\u00a0Delft University of Technology<\/a>. It is also one of the most student cities in the Netherlands, with\u00a0students comprising 10%-15% of its roughly 100,000 inhabitants. This vibrant city is all about high-tech innovation.\u00a0Engineering and hardware are among the strongest focuses in the city.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s high-tech ecosystem is also where the startup incubator\u00a0YES!Delft<\/a>\u00a0was born. With already 12 years of experience the YES!Delft ecosystem has supported more than 200 technology companies \u2013 \u201cfrom inkless printing to cutting edge laser technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Utrecht<\/h3>\n

Utrecht is not only home to cutting-edge innovations but also to\u00a0one of the healthiest and most sustainable living environments in the world<\/a>.\u00a0The city houses\u00a0Utrecht Science park\u00a0<\/a>which is the country\u2019s heart of regenerative medicine, 3D-bioprinting, stem cells and organoids, cancer research and cure, and smart sustainable cities.\u00a0The Utrecht Science park has over 80 organizations and businesses with a workforce of 22,000 employees, which is roughly 21% of the entire population of the city.<\/p>\n

In addition, Utrecht\u2019s ecosystem conceived\u00a0one of the 10 best incubators in Europe\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0UtrechtInc<\/a>. Last year, the incubator officially opened its\u00a0UtrechtInc Garage<\/a>, which is a creative hotspot for sustainable start-ups.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Hague<\/h3>\n

Last, but definitely not least, The Hague, the International City of Peace and Justice, is the backbone of security businesses in the Netherlands. The city houses \u201cthe leading security cluster in Europe\u201d \u2013\u00a0The Hague Security Delta Campus.<\/a>\u00a0 It supports cyber security start-ups and together with businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions work on innovations in the field of cyber security, national and urban security, protection of critical infrastructure, and forensics.\u00a0The HSD Campus is also one of the 10 places in the Netherlands that have been appointed by StartupDelta as a major hotspot for start-ups.<\/p>\n

Among many of the city\u2019s successful security start-ups is the US-Dutch start-up\u00a0HackerOne<\/a>. It is an ethical hackers platform where businesses can hire hackers and pay them for finding bugs and security issues. It received $25 million in funding in 2015 and has so far worked with Uber, Slack, and Twitter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Netherlands \u2013 the new Silicon Valley<\/h4>\n

It will be unfair not to mention some of the other booming tech\u00a0hubs in the Netherlands:<\/p>\n

Rotterdam<\/strong> and its Startup Foundation<\/a> and Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC)<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Leiden<\/strong> and its Bio Science Park<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Wageningen<\/strong> and its StartLife<\/a>, fostering entrepreneurship in Food and Agri, and the student incubator StartHub Wageningen<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Twente<\/strong> and its Novel-T <\/a>Accelerator Programme.<\/p>\n

To sum it up, in my opinion, the Netherlands has cultivated an exceptional ecosystem for disruptive innovation and development in high-tech and science, talented information technology workers, and aspiring entrepreneurship which makes the country a worthy bearer of the name \u201cthe new Silicon Valley\u201d.<\/p>\n

The article was first published here:\u00a0http:\/\/ab-mediacommunication.com\/2017\/08\/21\/why-netherlands-is-the-new-silicon-valley\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Feature photo: Eindhoven by\u00a0romagazine.nl<\/em><\/p>\n

Every day we keep reading about the astounding progress happening in the world\u2019s high-tech leader \u2013 San Francisco\u2019s Silicon Valley. Yet, there is something we are missing. A rather small country geographically is gradually\u00a0transforming into the new power in tech innovations. With its everyday top-notch scientific and technological advancements and highly qualified workforce, the Netherlands\u00a0<\/strong>is steadily becoming the new Silicon Valley. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a\u00a0# 1 startup business climate in the European Union<\/a>, with its highly educated pool of tech-savvy experts, and its open corporate business culture, the homeland of Philips has shaped a rare startup ecosystem on the continent.<\/p>\n

Although comparing a whole country with an individual city might seem groundless, I will tell you something \u2013 it is not! Simply because it is not about comparing. The new Silicon Valley is bigger in terms of geographical size and population and bigger in terms disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Moreover, unlike the other two major European leaders in science and technology \u2013 UK and Germany, the Dutch technological prowess is not concentrated mainly in its capital city. Numerous booming tech hubs can be found all over the\u00a0country. The Dutch startup ecosystem spreads out from the south to its very north and its scientific and tech achievements can undoubtedly surpass those of the current high-tech backbone \u2013 San Francisco\u2019s Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

“The Netherlands has cultivated an exceptional ecosystem for disruptive innovation and development in high-tech and science, talented information technology workers, and aspiring entrepreneurship.”, <\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amsterdam<\/h3>\n

Amsterdam, or the startup capital of Europe and city\u00a0#3 of start-ups and scale-ups for 2016,<\/a>\u00a0is a magnet for tech-savvy talent and growth. The city\u2019s programs\u00a0StartupAmsterdam\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0StartupDelta\u00a0<\/a>help start-ups strengthen, connect and grow.\u00a0Amsterdam also houses\u00a0Amsterdam Science Park<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a juncture of high-quality technical facilities, research institutes, Science and Business Database, and\u00a0Start-Up Village<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a co-working space for innovative high-tech and science based start-ups.<\/p>\n

What is more, it was in Amsterdam\u2019s startup ecosystem where the unicorn FinTech company\u00a0Adyen\u00a0<\/a>was born. Adyen is now evaluated at\u00a0$2.3 billion and it provides\u00a0payment solutions for Netflix, Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb. Besides,\u00a0many Silicon Valley companies themselves have headquarters\u00a0in the city, including Google, Uber, and Cisco.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eindhoven<\/h3>\n

Eindhoven, the birthplace of Philips electronics, is also home to \u00a0\u201cthe smartest square kilometre in Europe\u201d \u2013\u00a0High Tech Campus<\/a>. The business park was originally the place where Philips Research (the NatLab) was located. Now, it is a melting pot of tech-savvy talent where more than 140 high-tech companies and institutes are located, such as ASML, IBM, Philips, NXP, and Intel, to name but a few.<\/p>\n

Besides, the city has a vast network of academic and R&D facilities including the\u00a0Eindhoven University of Technology<\/a>. Thanks\u00a0to its exceptional high-tech and design climate, the city has also attracted the Silicon Valley-based\u00a0Singularity University<\/a>\u00a0to open an innovation hub there. The mission of the innovation hub is to bring together industry leaders from start-ups, research institutions, businesses, and government to create and apply technology \u201cto address humanity\u2019s grand challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Groningen<\/h3>\n

Groningen, famously known as \u201cthe city of talent\u201d,\u00a0has the largest number of successful start-ups after Amsterdam, according to\u00a0Deloitte Fast50<\/a>. The ranking lists the 50 fastest growing Dutch technology companies. For 2016, twelve companies were based in Amsterdam, followed by seven in Groningen. Moreover, last year, the Internet giant Google opened its second\u00a0data centre in Eemschaven<\/a>\u00a0in North Groningen.<\/p>\n

Groningen also houses \u201cthe most ambitious business accelerator for startups\u00a0and existing companies in the Northern Netherlands\u201d \u2013\u00a0VentureLab North<\/a>. At the same time, the portal\u00a0Founded in Groningen<\/a>connects, supports and promotes start-ups, companies and initiatives with the impressive background of 435 companies Founded in Groningen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Delft<\/h3>\n

Delft, the manufacturing base for the famous\u00a0Delft pottery<\/a>, is home to the country\u2019s largest tech university \u2013\u00a0Delft University of Technology<\/a>. It is also one of the most student cities in the Netherlands, with\u00a0students comprising 10%-15% of its roughly 100,000 inhabitants. This vibrant city is all about high-tech innovation.\u00a0Engineering and hardware are among the strongest focuses in the city.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s high-tech ecosystem is also where the startup incubator\u00a0YES!Delft<\/a>\u00a0was born. With already 12 years of experience the YES!Delft ecosystem has supported more than 200 technology companies \u2013 \u201cfrom inkless printing to cutting edge laser technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Utrecht<\/h3>\n

Utrecht is not only home to cutting-edge innovations but also to\u00a0one of the healthiest and most sustainable living environments in the world<\/a>.\u00a0The city houses\u00a0Utrecht Science park\u00a0<\/a>which is the country\u2019s heart of regenerative medicine, 3D-bioprinting, stem cells and organoids, cancer research and cure, and smart sustainable cities.\u00a0The Utrecht Science park has over 80 organizations and businesses with a workforce of 22,000 employees, which is roughly 21% of the entire population of the city.<\/p>\n

In addition, Utrecht\u2019s ecosystem conceived\u00a0one of the 10 best incubators in Europe\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0UtrechtInc<\/a>. Last year, the incubator officially opened its\u00a0UtrechtInc Garage<\/a>, which is a creative hotspot for sustainable start-ups.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Hague<\/h3>\n

Last, but definitely not least, The Hague, the International City of Peace and Justice, is the backbone of security businesses in the Netherlands. The city houses \u201cthe leading security cluster in Europe\u201d \u2013\u00a0The Hague Security Delta Campus.<\/a>\u00a0 It supports cyber security start-ups and together with businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions work on innovations in the field of cyber security, national and urban security, protection of critical infrastructure, and forensics.\u00a0The HSD Campus is also one of the 10 places in the Netherlands that have been appointed by StartupDelta as a major hotspot for start-ups.<\/p>\n

Among many of the city\u2019s successful security start-ups is the US-Dutch start-up\u00a0HackerOne<\/a>. It is an ethical hackers platform where businesses can hire hackers and pay them for finding bugs and security issues. It received $25 million in funding in 2015 and has so far worked with Uber, Slack, and Twitter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Netherlands \u2013 the new Silicon Valley<\/h4>\n

It will be unfair not to mention some of the other booming tech\u00a0hubs in the Netherlands:<\/p>\n

Rotterdam<\/strong> and its Startup Foundation<\/a> and Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC)<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Leiden<\/strong> and its Bio Science Park<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Wageningen<\/strong> and its StartLife<\/a>, fostering entrepreneurship in Food and Agri, and the student incubator StartHub Wageningen<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Twente<\/strong> and its Novel-T <\/a>Accelerator Programme.<\/p>\n

To sum it up, in my opinion, the Netherlands has cultivated an exceptional ecosystem for disruptive innovation and development in high-tech and science, talented information technology workers, and aspiring entrepreneurship which makes the country a worthy bearer of the name \u201cthe new Silicon Valley\u201d.<\/p>\n

The article was first published here:\u00a0http:\/\/ab-mediacommunication.com\/2017\/08\/21\/why-netherlands-is-the-new-silicon-valley\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Feature photo: Eindhoven by\u00a0romagazine.nl<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day we keep reading about the astounding progress happening in the world\u2019s high-tech leader \u2013 San Francisco\u2019s Silicon Valley. Yet, there is something we are missing. A rather small country geographically is gradually\u00a0transforming into the new power in tech innovations. With its everyday top-notch scientific and technological advancements and highly qualified workforce, the Netherlands\u00a0is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1626,"featured_media":522241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[482,825,46,6817,484,20494,98,2698,829],"location":[],"article_type":[],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-114486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability-nl","tag-economy","tag-high-tech-campus-en","tag-high-tech-campus","tag-hightech","tag-innovation","tag-science","tag-silicon-valley","tag-startups","tag-technology"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Andriana Boyrikova","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/andriana-boyrikova\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Netherlands-the-new-Silicon-Valley10-300x126.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["economy<\/a>","High Tech Campus<\/a>","High Tech Campus<\/a>","hightech<\/a>","innovation<\/a>","science<\/a>","silicon valley<\/a>","startups<\/a>","technology<\/a>"],"unlinked":["economy<\/span>","High Tech Campus<\/span>","High Tech Campus<\/span>","hightech<\/span>","innovation<\/span>","science<\/span>","silicon valley<\/span>","startups<\/span>","technology<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 9 years ago","modified":"Updated 9 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on August 22, 2017","modified":"Updated on August 22, 2017"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on August 22, 2017 12:28 pm","modified":"Updated on August 22, 2017 12:28 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=114486"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=114486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}