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Startup Vibes: New fund boosts bottom-up Brabant startup culture

Startup Vibes initiative to support local ecosystem with €50,000 annually, offering €10,000 tickets.

Published on June 4, 2025

Bob van der Meulen & Hugo van Hees

Bob van der Meulen & Hugo van Hees

Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.

Bob van der Meulen and Hugo van Hees took the stage at today's Drinks, Pitches & Demos event to unveil a brand-new initiative aimed at strengthening the startup ecosystem across Noord-Brabant: Startup Vibes. Backed by ecosystem developer Braventure and major municipalities in the province, the initiative includes an annual fund of €50,000 to support grassroots startup activities.

“We want to encourage bottom-up initiatives like this one, where people meet, interact, and inspire each other,” said Van der Meulen, who also works at Braventure. “Rather than going top-down, we believe innovation starts with people coming together around shared ideas.”

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The Startup Vibes Fund will provide up to €10,000 per project for initiatives that build community and promote entrepreneurship. That could include founder dinners, niche meetups, startup weekends, venture-building programs, and tech workshops. As Van Hees - also known from the Boost initiative - put it: “Everything that makes this region connect more and gets people enthusiastic about building the future.”

The program’s goal is to make it easy for local organizers to get support for their ideas. The application process is straightforward and can be accessed via startupvibes.nl, with complete guidelines, criteria, and a simple form.

“This is so new we don’t even have the slides ready yet,” joked Van der Meulen. “But the website is live, and the money is real.”

With their light-hearted energy and serious commitment, Van der Meulen and Van Hees hope to fuel a wave of grassroots energy in Brabant’s innovation scene. As they wrapped up, they hinted at more announcements to come - and perhaps even a first cheque at the next Drinks, Pitches & Demos.