Gerard & Anton Awards: A deep dive into startup success
What is the impact of the Gerard and Anton Award winners on the innovation ecosystem? Matthijs Bulsink of Braventure outlines the key facts and figures.
Published on July 9, 2024
This year’s dashboard, analyzing 100 award-winning startups, reveals significant trends in funding, origin, and industry impact. The full dashboard can be found at www.gerardanton.com.
Key figures
- Total Funding: €2,1B, up almost €300M compared to last year’s awards.
- Total Employees: 3,422
- Active Startups: 85
- Closed Startups: 8
- Acquired Startups: 7
Funding trends by award win year
One of the dashboard’s features is the breakdown of funding by the year startups won their awards. Deep tech startups stand out significantly and make up the bulk of funding. For example, the deep tech winners in the last three years all received more funding than their peers of that year.
University spin-offs and alumni of HighTechXL
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and HighTechXL alumni are pivotal sources of these award-winning startups. TU/e spin-offs alone account for 20 of the total, highlighting the university’s crucial role in developing technology and fostering entrepreneurial talent.
The manufacturing sector’s dominance
Manufacturing startups lead in terms of economic impact. These companies make up the majority of the total economic contribution, commanding close to €2 billion in funding and employing over 2,500 people.
Gender Representation
The dashboard also touches on gender representation, revealing that 13% of the founders in these award-winning startups are female. While slightly higher than the Dutch national average, it indicates the ongoing need for greater diversity in the startup ecosystem.