The start-up event, organized by UP!Rotterdam<\/a> and its partners took place on May 23-25 in the halls of Rotterdam\u2019s cultural venue Poppodium Annabel. Over 2,000 international start-up and scale-up founders, students, investors, and policymakers joined to network, exchange ideas and discuss potential collaboration. The three-day program was split into \u2018Talent Tuesday\u2019, \u2018Capital Wednesday\u2019, and \u2018Growth Thursday\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConnecting changemakers is what it\u2019s all about,\u201d Lars Crama, Chief Changemaker at Upstream, told Innovation Origins, clarifying the festival\u2019s goal of helping start-ups and scale-ups expand quickly. \u201cWe focus on three pillars: talent, capital, and markets. But there\u2019s a fourth pillar, the most important one. And that\u2019s what the whole of Upstream is about. It\u2019s about connecting you to peers and networks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since its debut in 2020, Upstream\u2019s unifying theme has been \u2018sustainable growth\u2019. Rather than spreading the message that high-leveraged \u2018unicorn\u2019 companies are the only ones able to make an impact, the event\u2019s organizers prefer to even the playing field: \u201cWe\u2019re here for everybody, but we focus particularly on those that drive energy transition, circular economy or inclusion,\u201d Crama added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Much professional networking occurred in Annabel\u2019s main hall, where more than 70 exhibitors set up their booths. Depending on the day, the companies were either looking to hire talent, invest in start-ups or introduce themselves as potential clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday started with an announcement made by the municipality of Rotterdam and UNIIQ<\/a>, a 28.8 million euro investment fund focusing on helping entrepreneurs get their break during the proof-of-concept phase. \u201cI\u2019m here especially to announce that the municipality of Rotterdam is investing an additional 2.6 million euros into the UNIIQ fund,\u201d said Task Manager of Innovation at the municipality of Rotterdam Robert Tans during the announcement speech. \u201cOur economy is also in a transition towards a new economy. And therefore, you need start-ups. Why? Because they come up with new solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n UNIIQ was not the only investment company present that supports entrepreneurs in their early stages. Graduate Entrepreneur<\/a>, a platform that works with recent graduates of Erasmus University Rotterdam<\/a>, Erasmus MC<\/a> and TU Delft<\/a>, aims to do the same with its pre-seed fund of 7 million euros, which is headed by a student board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One member of this board is Noah Papas, a recent econometrics graduate from Erasmus University. Along with his 13 colleagues, he invests in Rotterdam and Delft-based start-ups active in health tech, deep tech, green tech or digital tech: \u201cOur focus on alumni from the TU Delft, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University region is quite specific, so our investment scope is quite broad,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe really look for just very enthusiastic founders who have a deep, deep passion for problems they\u2019re solving.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to capital, Graduate Entrepreneur also offers coaching opportunities, a service it offered start-up founders during the event: \u201cWe would also like to provide start-ups with access to coaching from the big alumni network that we have,\u201d Papas continued. \u201cWe can help with either coaching or maybe starting an investment process if we liked their proposition.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s safe to say that some of the founders who attended Upstream were also interested in more than just investment. \u201cI\u2019m looking for mentorship on marketing and access to very talented experts in 3D modeling,\u201d said Vadym Antsyferov, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Sellbery<\/a>, a multi-channel listing platform for e-commerce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Antsyferov wants to create a marketplace for Gen Z, allowing this demographic to first watch videos about products they may be interested in and then try them on pre-purchase through means of Augmented Reality. Originally from Ukraine, he settled in the Netherlands partially due to its international-friendly entrepreneurial ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, the province of South Holland recorded over 1,300 start-ups, with more than 150 registered as being impact-driven due to their focus on sustainability, circularity or the energy transition, according to Techleap<\/a>. And it seems as if this ecosystem has been evolving for the better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really feel like there\u2019s a lot more happening nowadays than a couple of years ago,\u201d explained Steven Aanen, co-founder and CTO of Obeyo<\/a>, a property technology company that grants real estate operators with an app to communicate more efficiently with their tenants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are more people that are well connected, more access to investors, talent\u2026 and that\u2019s pretty cool to see,\u201d Aanen continued. \u201cWhere previously, I think you really needed to be based in Amsterdam or any one of the other ecosystems in Europe, I think the chances are increasing for start-ups now to basically work from here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Upstream\u2019s main program took place at Annabel, this edition also held its fair share of events sprinkled throughout the cities of Rotterdam, Delft, Schiedam and Ridderkerk in a further attempt to bring the community together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One example on the schedule was the launch of the world\u2019s first hydrogen inland container vessel at BlueCity, a hub of circular small businesses concentrated in a previously abandoned swimming pool on the Maas River. The vessel \u2014 which has been dubbed H2 Barge 1 \u2014 is now set to sail between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp on zero emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWelcome everyone to what we think is a pivotal moment in the history of inland shipping,\u201d said Richard Klatten during the launch event. He is the CEO of Future Proof Shipping<\/a>, the company behind the creation of the vessel. \u201cWe\u2019ve established something quite unique. It\u2019s the first vessel on hydrogen in the world, and the first step towards a real sustainable inland vessel industry.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The H2 Barge 1 is also the first to be granted a zero-emission label. Visitors and collaborators gathered next to the Maas to watch the hoisting of a flag that celebrated this achievement before being able to descend into the vessel to see it up close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering this zero-emission feat, BlueCity as a launch venue was a fitting choice, as it is a key player in the sustainable growth of Rotterdam. The collective is made up of a number of circular start-ups, including Fruitleather<\/a> \u2014 which makes leather out of fruit \u2014 and Alga.Farm<\/a> \u2014 which grows vitamin-rich spirulina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are just two examples of entrepreneurs that make use of nature to solve problems in a sustainable way. Crama hopes that this will also play a key role in Upstream\u2019s future: \u201cI\u2019m hoping that we can find more ways to use nature and technology together. The problems out there are so big, and I think nature is actually the most sophisticated technology there is. That\u2019s my personal challenge opportunity. I hope that Upstream will bring those worlds together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The next edition of Upstream is scheduled for May 28-30, 2024. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s no secret that the Netherlands is a flourishing ecosystem for start-ups and scale-ups. Particularly the province of South Holland \u2014 with its business and tech hotspots in Rotterdam and Delft \u2014 is home to many innovative companies who seek to make a sustainable impact. A recent report published by Techleap showed that, for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2587,"featured_media":495109,"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":[3009,42],"tags":[66448,78345],"location":[6763],"article_type":[43139],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-447604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startup","category-sustainability-nl","tag-uprotterdam","tag-upstream","location-netherlands","article_type-features"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":" Over 2,000 international start-up and scale-up founders, students, investors, and policymakers joined to network, exchange ideas and discuss potential collaboration.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Anna Zwettler","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/anna-zwettler\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/image00003.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Start-ups<\/a>","Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Start-ups<\/span>","Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Up!Rotterdam<\/a>","Upstream<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Up!Rotterdam<\/span>","Upstream<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 27, 2023","modified":"Updated on May 27, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 27, 2023 8:33 am","modified":"Updated on May 27, 2023 8:33 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447604","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\/2587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=447604"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=447604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-26-at-20.52.22-1004x563.png\")
Changemakers at the core <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Investment is more than just capital <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Enthusiastic founders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/image00001-1004x565.jpeg\")
South Holland as start-up heaven? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First Hydrogen Inland Shipping Vessel Launch <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/image00005-1004x565.jpeg\")