Brightlands Startup League offers innovative startups growth opportunities in Limburg

The first edition of the Brightlands Startup League Event in Roermond offered promising Limburg startups a platform to present their ideas, network, learn from leading experts, and explore opportunities for future collaboration and investment. Speakers included Constantijn van Oranje, special envoy at Techleap, Limburg deputy Stephan Satijn, and Milan Meyberg, winner of the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award 2023.

Brightlands Startup League is intended for innovations from home and abroad that link to the Brightlands themes of health, sustainability, and digitalization. It does not matter what stage the idea is in. Entrepreneurs can receive support in, for example, market analysis, patent applications, and business plans. Those who have mastered all entrepreneurial skills can build a network through the Brightlands Startup League.

Breeding ground

According to Stephan Satijn, over the past decade, Limburg has developed into a breeding ground for social innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable, and more digital. “On the Brightlands campuses, many such innovative ideas have already been brought to the market. Partly thanks to the experts at Brightlands, LIOF, and Maastricht University, who have been working for years to help start-up entrepreneurs get started.”

Brightlands Startup League is a joint initiative of Brightlands, Maastricht University, LIOF, and the Province of Limburg, in which startups get all the support they need to grow innovation optimally in the fields of health, sustainability, and digitalization. The common goal is to boost innovation so that more ideas reach the market and grow into successful Limburg companies. Participating startups can use the partners' extensive network and professional facilities.

Masterclasses

During the event, startups could pitch their ideas in the startup arena and participate in masterclasses by Techleap and Gritd. In addition to the Brightlands Startup League event, ten master classes are organized annually. In these, startups learn, for example, how to start a company, how to write a good business plan, and how to get financing. In addition, they can spend half a day on one of the campuses meeting potential cooperation partners. Through their mentor, they find their way to all the facilities and knowledge offered on the four Brightlands campuses, at Maastricht University, and by LIOF. Think of an office space, a clean room in a professional lab, or a collaboration partner. Participants themselves determine the route and speed at which they complete a trajectory and enter at the level that suits them best.

In his opening remarks, Stephan Satijn explained what the Brightlands Startup League means for the Limburg economy: “We have a lot of knowledge, expertise, facilities and a very broad network in Limburg. What we were still missing was a kind of gateway. Because where do you start as an inventor of an innovative idea? How do you find your way to the support you need? And to the right partners to work with? By combining the forces of Brightlands, LIOF and Maastricht University, we are boosting the startup climate in Limburg. This will lead to more cooperation between the campuses and to more crossovers. In this way we can increase Limburg's innovative strength, develop smart solutions for major social challenges and strengthen the economy even further.”