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IO+ week: It can be done

Our weekly overview offers an overview of the most interesting stories around key innovations every Sunday.

Published on December 1, 2024

Bram van Dal

Jelle Prins at the IO+ launch. Image: Bram van Dal

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By: Aafke Eppinga

As editor-in-chief, Aafke is ultimately responsible for the content of our platform, but she also likes to get into the pen herself. She is also responsible for the content of our events. She likes nothing better than explaining complicated things in an accessible way and is fond of telling the story of the people behind the technology. 

The European tech ecosystem's talent, capital, and ambition are flourishing, but the slowdown in investment and a wide funding gap threaten growth. For the latest installment of Behind the Figures, colleague Mauro delved into investment in the EU tech ecosystem. He does so using Atomico's State of European Tech Report 2024. The main conclusion? There is too little investment compared to the United States. You can read the article here:

Europe

The European tech ecosystem is thriving, but the funding gap is a pain point

Atomico's State of European Tech Report 2024 shows the growth of European tech ecoystem in the past decade and its limits. We look at the numbers in this new episode of Behind the Figures.

A rather successful leap of faith

Two weeks ago, Jelle Prins, one of the founders of Cradle and the first employee of Uber, was a guest at our launch. It was an open and vulnerable conversation about reinventing yourself. He told us that he has had to learn which tasks suit him—and which don't—and that it's good to take a leap of faith occasionally, even though you have no idea how to get out.

Cradle creates software to devise modifications in proteins. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to search for better drug antibodies or an enzyme that breaks down PET bottles more easily. The company's software should become accessible to millions of scientists worldwide. Prins: “With Cradle, I can make much more impact than at Uber.”

Well, the leap seems to be working out well for Prins. This week, Cradle announced that they raised $73 million in a Series B investment round. An unusually high amount for a Dutch tech startup. This shows the Delft/Swiss biotech startup: it can be done. Below, you can read the interview I had with Jelle earlier this year:

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Jelle Prins, Cradle founder: 'I thought my peak had passed after leaving Uber'

He was Uber's first employee, developed the Corona alarm app, and founded startup Cradle. We spoke to Prins at TNW about Fingerspitzengefühl, fuck-ups, and entrepreneurship in Europe.

Promising generation

This week, it also became clear again how promising the new generation of innovators, scientists, and future thinkers is. For example, the Wageningen student team iGEM developed a new tool for diagnosing MS. Colleague Linda interviewed the current team manager (Marieke Koerhuis) and the team manager of 2011. The result: a very nice conversation about intrinsic motivation and the changes over the past decade.

Students in Delft are launching a mission in 2026 to allow schoolchildren worldwide to be in direct contact with a satellite in space. The Da Vinci Satellite team at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has won a prestigious contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Bart also mentioned it last week, but if you come across things on the website that you don't like (or do like, we'd also like to hear), please email .

And yes, we also had an eye for other news:

Have a great week!

Aafke Eppinga - editor-in-chief at IO+