Novioscan makes a positive impact with its solution for one of the biggest hidden problems the world is facing: incontinence. Their story is a great example of a bright idea turning into a reality by finding skilled people to believe in your vision.
The basic idea of Novioscan’s invention is simple: avoid wet accidents by notifying the child or patient that they have to go to the bathroom or get help. Rob Tweehuysen, one of Novioscan’s co-founders, explains: “We noticed a great need for a solution like ours. We started with the objective to help young children, who don’t want to wear a diaper at school. But we learned that incontinence is a bigger societal problem, so we are working on solutions for older generations as well”, he says.
Briskr was right across the street
Novioscan started with an idea, which quickly became a real-life solution. Their location in Nijmegen, with loads of supply in terms of knowledge and chip industry, surely helped. Finding your way in that maze of possible connections is not always easy, says Rob. “Right across the street was Briskr. We needed a networking organization like them to be able to connect to others like HealthValley, OostNL, and the University. It’s an ongoing process, but it sure is nice to have a guide.”Diligent, but accurate
Novioscan’s technology works through ultrasound. A small device is placed on the abdomen, right where the bladder is. It sends sound signals inwards to receive an echo. Based on the time it takes for that echo to reach the device, it can precisely measure the amount of urine in the bladder. An invention that has changed lives, says Rob. “The problem is largely hidden, one in fifteen children has a problem with continence.”
The potential impact is not restricted to young children, as incontinence is a problem that older generations are facing as well. Novioscan is currently working on the ‘adult version’ of their product. “We are working on pilots with adults. The device needs to have the ability to measure at more points due to the various shapes of bladder that adults have, but we are confident that we’ll be able to apply our proprietary technology. Eventually, the goal is to make the product even smaller and therefore more diligent”, says Rob.
Managing continence instead of treating incontinence
Turning innovation into an actual product takes more than just a good idea. In their search for investors, Novioscan found worldwide hygiene and health company Essity, quickly after they started their mission. Axel Nordberg is a global director for digital solutions at Essity, who is the owning partner of Novioscan. He is very excited to be involved in developing Novioscan’s product. “There are 400 million people in the world with incontinence, but the problem is often underestimated, due to stigma.” Essity is one of the biggest global companies in absorbent products with a clear agenda in digital solutions. They invest in good ideas to improve the quality of life. “We develop a lot of products ourselves, and Novioscan’s solution ticked many of the boxes we look for. It comes down to this: we want to support our customers and consumers to manage continence instead of thinking about treating incontinence”, says Axel.
For a relatively young company like Novioscan, Essity proved an ideal partner, says Rob. “Thanks to Essity, we could actually take the product to the market.” Axel adds that this is very important to further develop the product to fine-tune the product. “Feedback from users gives us information about our user’s needs. People stay at home in fear of leakage, compromising their freedom. We want to hear how they are best helped by applying technology.”
Health Valley organiseert op 15 november speciaal voor ondernemers een bustour naar de MEDICA; dé medische vakbeurs in Düsseldorf. De MEDICA biedt de mogelijkheid tot het spotten van nieuwe innovaties, het bijwonen van symposia en volop manieren om te netwerken. Kortom, de plaats om je te laten inspireren, maar ook om nieuwe verbindingen te leggen!
Opstapplaatsen
07.00 uur Zwolle
08.15 uur Enschede
Kosten
€50,- ex BTW
Inclusief:
Busreis
Ontbijt in de bus
Borrel & hapjes in de bus
Exclusief:
Toegangsticket MEDICA
Consumpties tijdens uw MEDICA bezoek
- Public information shared by regulators
- Overview of inspection findings from:
- EMA (European Medicines Agency)
- FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency)
For the EFRO program period 2021-2027, the new website www.efro-oost.eu was recently put online. On this site, you can find all the current information about the program EFRO 2021-2027 for Eastern Netherlands.
In the coming period, the site will be further supplemented with information about the grant opportunities, openings, rules, budgets, news, stories from entrepreneurs/beneficiaries and information needed for progress and final reports. Keep an eye on this website if you are an entrepreneur and would like to make use of it. (Please note, the website is in Dutch)
What’s the value of your company?
Valuation of a company is almost always hard. Sentiments play a role, but also the fact that there are many alternative ways to look at the value of a company. This is of course even more true if you run a start-up as the past offers little foundation to determine future performance and worth. But for all growth stages valuation is immensely important since external financing is in most cases the only way to grow. Therefore, it’s necessary that you understand how valuation works, that you know how best to prepare for negotiations and how to determine the conditions. This is what this workshop offers. It helps create a better understanding of company valuation and investment terms as well as the process to reach an investment deal.
Understanding the other site of the table
Investors and entrepreneurs both want a deal that makes them happy. In order to have fruitful discussions about the valuation of your company, it’s therefore important for both sides of the table to have a good understanding of each other’s perspective. What does an investor look for in a business case? What is expected from you as an entrepreneur? But also, what can you expect from an investor? Now during the deal making phase, but also later on as a shareholder in your company? Instead of looking for a bigger slice of the pie, the goal should be to make the pie bigger for everyone at the table.
Legal issues regarding the participation of investors
When an investor and entrepreneur cooperate, in principle, they have the same objectives. But that’s not the case on all aspects of the cooperation. For instance regarding an exit or the relationship between the management board and the general meeting of shareholders. These are some of the most important issues in the cooperation between an entrepreneur and an investor. Thorough thought on these issues upfront contribute to a smooth cooperation between entrepreneur and an investor.
Presenters
Emile Sahar, Poelmann van den Broek Lawyers
Maurice Koopmans, Aeternus corporate finance
Bram ten Bok, Oost NL
Live event
We aim to organize this workshop in a live setting and will take all necessary RIVM/national measures into account. If a physical workshop is not possible, we will reschedule to a later date.
Good to know
We finish off with drinks & bites. This workshop is free of charge and facilitated in English. Please register upfront!
We look forward to meet you!
The workshop is meant for investment seeking start-ups/ scale-ups; entrepreneurs that are either in or approaching the phase to find and contract investors. It is free of charge, but registration is needed. There is a maximum of 16 participants. And to prepare for this wokshop we will ask you to answer some questions in advance.
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To keep your public speaking skills fresh you should work on them on a regular basis. For most of us however the trigger to work on these skills is when we have to give our next presentation. To make it easy to keep your presentation skills on top of mind he started #FrankSays. With this hashtag he publishes, every Thursday, a practical pitch tip on Linked In.
If you want to keep improving your public speaking skills follow him on Linked In.
6 July 2022 | Utrecht
Collaboration with a large corporate partner may be critical to successfully bring a startup’s innovation to patients. Such a partnership or collaboration may bring them access to expertise, resources and networks which are otherwise hard to tap into. But what are the ins and outs of building a successful partnership or collaboration?
Join this workshop in Utrecht or another regional hub and hear from the deal-making team and innovation scouts at Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Register here: https://jji.jnj/Utrecht
How to get more out of your team!
Leading and managing a team is rewarding, complex, sometimes frustrating and amazing! Most entrepreneurs know more about their industry or craft than about getting the most out of the team that they work with. Yet fulfilling that role as a leader well is crucial to the success of your business, to your happiness at work and that of your employees. Something that investors also look at when deciding to put more money into your business or to keep you in your role as CEO as the company grows. Whether you have issues with your team, or everything is fine in that area but you would like to keep it that way, this afternoon will be well spent as good staff are harder to find and keep.
In this workshop, hosted by Lizanne Jakobs, we will work on crafting our knowledge and skills on:
– Your role as a leader
– The difference between managing and leading
– What to do when there is friction
– How do you keep people on track and motivated in the short and long term
Lizanne Jakobs is an award winning business coach and speaker and an entrepreneur herself. She is the founder of Brilliant Work, named best business coaching and consultancy firm in the Netherlands for small to medium sized companies two years in a row. Her workshops are always interactive, useful and engaging. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s in International Business Communications, both from the Radboud University and is a DiSC accredited trainer. The team of coaches at Brilliant Work help clients grow and professionalise their companies. Most of these coaching engagements are aided by one of the many different subsidies they are accredited for.
Programme
The workshop will run from 14.30 to 17.00, with doors opening 15 minutes before hand. Half way through there will be a break and from 17.00 onwards it will turn into a networking opportunity.
Location: Novio Tech Campus, Building M, Nijmegen
Work on crafting your knowledge and skills.
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Ep. 11 – Adaptive Learning
Listen to this episode from AI for Life on Spotify. The latest podcast about AI in Nijmegen is about adaptive learning. More and more schools are using digital tools to help students learn, and increasingly these tools are becoming intelligent. By giving real-time feedback and adapting the lessons for the individual student. In this podcast, we discuss the current state of the art and some of the challenges of this technology. How do you balance the needs of an individual student with those of the rest of the class? How do you use these tools in hybrid environments of physical learning and digital learning? And are these tools suitable for all teachers and learners?
In this podcast we talk to: Inge Molenaar, associate professor of educational studies at Radboud University Marieke van Osch, educational expert at the Ministry and Radboudumc and Jorieke Willems of the education company Gynzy.
New perspectives on innovative business
If a company develops technical new products or services in the Netherlands, they could be eligible for Dutch tax incentives. These tax incentives can be very attractive for most business. In order to qualify for the tax incentives, several criteria have to be met. BDO can assess if your company could qualify for the tax incentives. Thereby we can support with the application and implementation of the tax incentives.
The Dutch government offers companies two tax incentives: the WBSO and the innovation box. These tax incentives encourages companies to occur Research and Development (R&D) activities in the Netherlands.
WBSO
You can invoke the WBSO during the research and development stage of your innovation. This entails a reduction in the payroll tax liability for wage and other costs as well as expenditures associated with the research and development work for your innovation. This reduction may run up to 40%. For the WBSO is involved the development of (components of) technically innovative physical products, physical production processes or software components, or technical and scientific research.
All kind of innovative developments could be eligible for the WBSO. The WBSO can take effect at any time during the research and development stage, however the WBSO does not have retrospective effect. Applications for the WBSO can be submitted at RVO each month and the application period could start (at least) on the first day of the following months. Only exception is applications starting as from 1 January, which should be submitted before the 20th of December. The period for which a company could opt for the WBSO, should be at least three months within the same calendar year.
Innovation box
The innovation box offers a reduction on the corporate income tax paid on profits generated from innovations. Subject to meeting the conditions, companies will owe no more than 9% corporate income tax on your ‘innovative’ profits. With effect of 1 January 2017, a patent or plant variety right alone is no longer sufficient to qualify for the innovation box. To demonstrate that you have self-developed an innovation, qualification under the WBSO is now the decisive criterion.
Large companies with a global revenue of more than 250 million euros over five years or income from innovations of more than 37.5 million euros over five years are required to meet additional criteria, i.e.:
- A patent or plant variety right (granted or requested);
- Software;
- Authorisation for marketing a medicine;
- A protection certificate from the Netherlands Patent Office;
- A registered utility model to protect an innovation (not being a design right).
The innovation box can be applied to the years in which the conditions are being met. Contrary to the WBSO, the innovation box can be applied with retroactive effect to all years for which the corporate income tax assessment is not final yet.
BDO: specialist in tax incentives
The WBSO and innovation box could offer companies significant tax savings in the Dutch wage tax and the Dutch corporate income tax. Unfortunately, our experience shows that companies often do not (optimally) use these tax incentives. BDO has experience with the WBSO and innovation box for a variety of companies. We can assess whether your company could qualify for these tax incentives and if so, file an application at the competent government agency. Furthermore, we can also help you with the implementation and optimization of the these tax incentives.
Yours to gain
- Savings on wage and other costs as well as expenditures;
- Reduction in corporate income tax liability;
- Alleviation of administrative burden;
- Boost in innovation.
New transparency
Tax laws and rules are constantly changing and tax issues are becoming increasingly complex. What is more, the social pressure for transparency is intensifying. How can you, as a managing director and/or business owner, best maintain a clear overview when facing such a dynamic tax landscape? And how do you set clear tax objectives for the future? BDO tax advisers provide new transparency by examining your business from a fresh and independent perspective. We are able to translate complex tax issues into coherent recommendations and tangible solutions. We work closely with you to ensure your professional and personal goals are attained. In dialogue with you, we develop a clear-cut tax strategy that leads to sustainable success.
More information?
BDO specialises in tax incentives. Our specialists combine their knowledge with practical experience of your sector to provide tailor-made services. The initial scan is always free of charge.
