Heb jij een businesscase ontwikkeld die bijdraagt aan gelijke kansen in de samenleving? Voor een gezond leven, welzijn en toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt? En waarbij preventie en financiële gezondheid vooropstaan? Dan zijn wij op zoek naar jou! Of jouw initiatief er nu voor zorgt dat we straks langer thuis kunnen blijven wonen, mensen begeleidt naar werk, of deze bijdraagt aan digitalisering of circulaire samenwerking in de zorg. Schrijf je in voor de Rabo Duurzame Innovatieprijs 2023! Goed voor jouw bedrijf & goed voor onze toekomst samen.
The Netherlands Enterpise Agency (RVO) highlighted 11 Dutch start-ups have raised a total of €77 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme. This puts the Netherlands in second place among the countries that receive the most money from this programme.
One of those companies is Nijmegen-based Prothinhi Therepeutics, a preclinical stage biotech company developing novel broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against upcoming viral health threats diseases (dengue, zika, WNV, Corona, Chikungunia) with a high unmet medical need.
The Netherlands, world leading country in RF Technology Radio Frequency (RF) technology knowledge is significantly strong developed in the Netherlands. No less than thirty Dutch companies are highly specialized in RF technology and its applications. The Netherlands is home to many great inventions in RF technology. Bluetooth and WIFI, worldwide embraced and indispensable innovations, have their origins and crucial development in the Netherlands. And, with the knowledge and expertise of Dutch RF engineers, so much more can become possible with RF technology. Welcome to the world of RF solutions!
RF offers solutions you probably have not thought of yet RF is already widely used and the number of Radio Frequency (wireless) applications will explode in the coming years. Wireless and contactless connected, will be the new standard. Think of IoT applications, medical imaging such as MRI or, autonomous driving, and adaptive cruise control. But there is more. RF offers excellent solutions for the necessary transition from fossil fuels to green energy. RF is clean and sustainable. In addition, it is ultra-accurate, hygienic, and highly controllable. For sensing, detecting, and heating RF is the most efficient technique that we know of. It can and should be used in more and different kinds of industries.
A few examples • Energy: RF is clean, sustainable, fast, and controllable. In all cases where we use gas nowadays, RF is an excellent replacement. • Food: Heating becomes more hygienic (contactless), more accurate, and faster with RF technology. • Health: RF technology offers more accurate sensing and imaging, more fidelity, and more detail. Thanks to these features, severe diseases can be detected at an earlier stage. • Logistics: RF offers opportunities for better capacity utilization in the available space through precise positioning capabilities and more secure movement. Think of moving vehicles and loading and unloading in large complex distribution centers. • Mobility: Extremely accurate RF sensing makes it possible to apply more autonomous traffic flows thanks to Car-to-car interaction, adaptive cruise control, and the interaction between cars and traffic instruments such as traffic lights and signaling signs. This contributes to a better flow of vehicles and therefore directly to better living conditions in urban areas.
And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. RF developments can also contribute to data transfer, security and safety, climate, transport etc. RF Technology can contribute to your business as well.
Do you feel the need to use RF Technology for sustainable, more efficient solutions to the challenges in your business? The RF Knowledge Lab can put you in contact with the right RF specialist. Contact us and let’s find out together.
RF Knowledge Lab The RF Knowledge lab is a collaboration of companies, universities, and research organizations. All with specific RF expertise. This group of professionals, brought together by High Tech NL, has joined forces to explore the possibilities and opportunities for RF solutions. Both in the Netherlands and abroad. This promising initiative has the warm support of local and provincial governments. The RF Knowledge Lab is the best entry point to new RF innovations and solutions. By joining the RF Knowledge Lab you become part of the future of RF Technology.
Can your company contribute to this collaboration? We want to get in touch! Contact us and be part of the ecosystem!
Victor Haze Project manager High Tech NL cluster Holland Semiconductors M +31 (0)6 8399 9327 E contact@rfkl.nl
Prevention is better than cure, so it is said in the medical world. And according to Francien Mels, founder of Noviocare, this also applies to sleep. “People often speak about healthy eating and sufficient exercise, but sleeping well is also incredibly important for your long-term health. That’s where I want to make a difference with Noviocare.”
Where better to start looking at healthy sleep preventively than with the very youngest age group? “Sleeping well is starting to become more and more of a trend, which I am glad about,” Francien says. “But there are still very few solutions. I thought: sleeping well is the basis. If you sleep well, everything automatically improves.”
Francien Mels
Massive long-term impact
Sleeping poorly seems like something small, but the opposite is true, according to Francien. “In the long-term, a sleep deficit is very bad for people. Not only for grownups but for babies as well. Even behavioural development is affected. And, well-sleeping babies are also a blessing for parents: you’re hitting two birds with one stone.”
Briskr connected Francien to Health Valley. “They helped me build my business plan. OostNL’s customer journey program brought me many insights as well.” Francien started with extensive market research, asking not only parents but also medical specialists to share their experiences.
Noviocare developed their product ‘PIKO’ building on those findings: a secure sleeping environment for a baby, wherever it sleeps. “There are three essentials to a good night’s sleep: rest, routine and regularity. However, our life is far from quiet. Babies have two working parents, noisy siblings, and go to daycare. When asked, parents say their kids end up sleeping in five different places on average per week, sometimes as many as ten.”
Working on a routine
So, parents want to move towards rest, routine and regularity but don’t get around to it because of their busy schedules. PIKO is the solution to that, according to Francien. “With PIKO, you have the same sleeping place for your baby everywhere. In the playpen, in the cradle, in your own bed. And taking it with you is very simple, so even at daycare, at grandma and grandpa’s and on holiday, your baby still sleeps in a familiar environment.”
PIKO’s goal is a better night’s sleep, and Francien explains that you need more than just a constant sleeping place. “Because you can also use sound to reinforce the bedtime ritual, PIKO also comes with a POD. You can turn on the sound when your baby wakes up or cries. The accompanying app helps you structure their sleeping behaviour. You keep a diary, and compare your child’s sleep behaviour with what a baby of that age needs.”
PIKO
Ready to launch
Noviocare’s first product has now been developed, validated and tested for safety. The first results from the pilot are promising. At the Negenmaandenbeurs, where the prizes of the Baby Innovation Awards will also be presented, the PIKO will be officially launched. “We are nominated for the Awards, so it’s the perfect time to launch!”
The PIKO seems like a logical solution to a temporary problem, but Francien hopes for more. “It would be even nicer if prospective parents already see this as a solution. That puts us more into the preventive corner, from which this business idea was born.”
Francien and Noviocare’s focus is now on PIKO, but much more is possible in the future. “We don’t focus on the age group, but on sleep quality. Older children and adults benefit just as much from healthy sleep.”
This workshop focuses on innovative startups/entrepreneurs that might not yet be ready to apply for series A capital but are determined to get there in the next few years and wish to think ahead.
Great ideas are important but not enough to create a sustainable businesses. Building a company needs a lot of effort from the right talents. But sooner or later external money is also needed to attract the right people and grow the business. Often starting with friends, family and fools, then angel investment and at one moment in time also serious investments by venture capital. While building the company it is important to be aware of the criteria that the different investors use in choosing investments and to be able to work towards meeting them.
In this workshop Thijs Cohen Tervaert, investor and Director at Inkef Capital, will explain the role of venture capital, the criteria used in selecting the right investments and how even early on in your startup you can prepare for these. For some participants of the workshop it is possible to give short pitches and get feedback from Thijs (send an email to Briskr when you are interested to pitch yourself).
INKEF Capital was established in 2010 to finance and support starting entrepreneurs and their spectacular technology ventures. INKEF is short for Investing in the Knowledge Economy of the Future. With ABP/APG as a founding partner and cornerstone investor, they are able to focus all their passion and expertise on two broad technology sectors: Healthcare and ICT/New Media/FinTech.
This workshop is free of charge. We welcome new contacts, so feel free to share this invite with your network!
Good to know
We organize this workshop in a live setting and finish off with drinks & bites. This workshop is free of charge and facilitated in English. Please register upfront!
Location: Noviotech Campus, building M, Transistorweg 5, Nijmegen
Workshop description Following the great success of last year’s workshop, David will once again share the steps and tools to prepare for your winning pitch in this practical, fast-paced & very active workshop.
You’ll get guidance on how to build your storyline creatively, how to make your message understandable and memorable, and how to open and close powerfully. All steps are practiced in short and fun exercises.
Afterwards, you’ll receive a selection of materials and access to an App that will help you deliver your winning pitch, handshake pitch and/or elevator pitch!
Location Noviotech Campus, building M, Transistorweg 5, Nijmegen.
Good to know The workshop is facilitated in English and is free of charge and organised together with Mercator Launch.
Enzyre uses investments to save thousands on healthcare According to Guido Maertens, co-founder and CEO of Enzyre, money is key to success in the world of biotech and life science. “In this world, you really have to believe in your own plans and products, otherwise it gets very tough. But the potential for our product is worth the effort since the treatment of haemophilia is extremely expensive.” With the completion of this Series A round, Enzyre has secured funding to further develop its first product for haemophilia and platform technology.
Guido Maertens
Right now, it’s all about making their prototype robust for Enzyre. “We want to move towards clinical validation testing. As a research tool, we don’t want to get stuck. The ultimate goal is to help patients at home. That’s why we have to step up the quality!”
What will Enzyre help patients at home with? The company focuses on patients with haemophilia, a chronic blood disease. “These people do not have enough active factor-8 protein, so the blood doesn’t clot sufficiently. Quite simply, a small bleed can already have extreme consequences for these people.” Patients in the Netherlands receive proper, often prophylactic treatment. “They inject medication every week. But as a patient, you also want to know how much medication is left in your blood. That’s where we come in.”
Monitoring for peace of mind
Enzyre is currently developing the EnzyPad, a tool that allows patients to monitor their medication levels. So how does that work? “It starts with taking a blood sample. Fortunately, this can be done painlessly with a blood sampling device. You put that sample on our EnzyCard, our test card. We mix the blood with a number of chemicals. This causes a reaction, producing light. You can measure light in the form of photons. Simply put: if there are too few photons, it’s time for more medication.”
This simple monitoring provides peace of mind for patients, according to Guido. “Patients now know exactly how well the medication is working. It reassures them. They know they’re protected, should something happen. It also means that people can lead a more active life because fear doesn’t hold a grip on them.” There are also major benefits for the healthcare system. “Treatment for haemophiliacs costs around €250,000 a year. So any saving quickly yields a profit.”
Long- and short-term
In the short term, Enzyre is going to use the money it raised to go from a prototype to a product. This also includes the realization of a pilot product line. But there is also the long term. “We don’t just want to focus on haemophilia. We want to become a leading company in the world of blood clotting. We probably need a partnership for that, with a diagnostic company, for example. We are very good at research and development, but we could use some help with sales or distribution.”
Enzyre is already working with many companies in the region. “The Noviotech Campus has brought us a lot in terms of networking. We develop our hardware in collaboration with Sencio and EPR Partner. And our first sensors came from NXP!”
Thousands of potential savings
Guido is also very happy about the partnership with Takeda. “They are a very big pharmaceutical company, with an awful lot of content knowledge. For a company like Enzyre, a partnership like that is rather unique, but we’re happy to be working together. We couldn’t have closed this investment round without Takeda.” The successful round of investment brings patients one step closer to leaving their fears behind. This way Enzyre continues to use its network on and off campus to lower the impact of haemophilia on patients’ lives. As medication is costly, their product has the potential to lower healthcare costs by thousands of euros per patient.
Every single day, all day long, we make extensive use of our memory. At what time was that meeting again? Did we close the fridge at home properly this morning? A failing memory can trouble our everyday tasks, while a great memory can greatly ease our lives, for example in memorizing a list or learning a new language. There are many things that can influence memory development during our upbringing, but also in adulthood its performance might change over time. How does the brain handle this on a neuronal level? Can anything be done to boost memory performance? And why is it that we don’t have memories from before the age of four?
You might still have a memory of this Science Cafe being moved due to illness. On a second chance, Monday January 16th, memory experts Freyja Ólafsdóttir and Boris Konrad of the Radboud University will be welcomed in the Shamrock to introduce us to the wonders of memory. Ólafsdóttir takes a fundamental approach, implementing a range of techniques that allow the investigation of single neuron activity and their embedding in neuronal network patterns. In this way, she investigates the development of spatial and episodic memory in rodents. Konrad, on the other hand, studies the neuronal principles underlying memory enhancement in humans and the advantages of different memory strategies. Moreover, he investigates the effects of modern technology on our brain. The inspiring musical presence of Punch! will make this a night to remember (with ease)!
scientists /8pm Freyja Ólafsdóttir(RU) and Boris Konrad (RU)
Banken slaan handen ineen met Oost NL en The Economic Board Arnhem-Nijmegen
REGIO ARNHEM-NIJMEGEN: Rabobank, ING en ABN-AMRO hebben samen met Oost NL en The Economic Board Arnhem-Nijmegen een financieringstafel voor het MKB opgericht. Innovatieve ondernemers met een goed businessplan, die eerder een financieringsvraag afgewezen zagen worden, kunnen bij de financieringstafel aankloppen voor een manier om hun bedrijfsplan alsnog te financieren. De financieringstafel verwacht op deze manier vele ondernemers per jaar te kunnen ondersteunen.
De financieringstafel zet in op zowel innovatie als financiering en is bedoeld om innovaties die de regio hard nodig heeft, een grotere kans van slagen te bieden. Oost NL verzorgt de intake en brengt de casussen in bij de financieringstafel. Jan van Dellen, directeur The Economic Board Arnhem-Nijmegen, is bestuurlijk voorzitter van de tafel.
Regio heeft innovaties hard nodig
Rabobank constateerde in een rapport uit 2021, dat gebleken is dat ondernemers moeite hebben om innovatieve ideeën gefinancierd te krijgen. De financieringstafel gaat daarom in januari 2023 direct van start met de behandeling van de eerste ingebrachte casussen. Jan van Dellen kan niet wachten tot het zover is: “We staan al maanden te popelen om onze ondernemers te gaan helpen. Je moet je voorstellen dat als jij een goed idee hebt, voor een startup of jouw jonge bedrijf wilt uitbreiden, dat niks zo vervelend is als in de wachtkamer zitten omdat je niet weet waar je terecht kunt met je financieringsvraagstuk. Onze regio heeft innovatieve ondernemers keihard nodig om de vraagstukken van de toekomst op te lossen. Hoe brengen we de energierekening in de wijken omlaag? Welke toepassingen in de zorg helpen om de volksgezondheid in onze regio op peil te houden tegen lagere kosten? Met de financieringstafel gaan we ondernemers helpen om de oplossingen van morgen naar de markt te brengen.”
Grootbanken slaan handen ineen
Uniek aan de financieringstafel is dat de grootbanken Rabobank, ING en ABN-AMRO zich samen inzetten om een alternatief te creëren. Casussen worden door Oost NL verzameld en daarna anoniem ingebracht en op inhoud besproken, waarna er gekeken wordt welke bank de best aansluitende financieringspartner is. Aanvragen die niet passen binnen de kaders die de banken hanteren, worden gekoppeld aan alternatieve financiers, zoals investeringsfondsen, business angels of crowdfunding. Jan van Dellen: “Het komt voor dat een ondernemer nog niet in staat is om te voldoen aan de eisen die aan financiering gesteld worden. In zo’n geval kan de financieringstafel ook helpen een coachingstraject op te zetten, subsidiemogelijkheden in kaart helpen brengen of doorverwijzen naar een partner die gespecialiseerd is in begeleiding van opkomende ondernemers. Uitgangspunt is dat we een zetje in de rug willen geven op de best passende manier.”
Innovaties om te overleven
De voortdurende veranderingen in kennis, producten en diensten, werkwijzen, gedrag, welvaart, maatschappelijke verhoudingen, kortom, de voortdurende veranderingen in de wereld vereisen een continue aandacht van ondernemers voor die veranderingen, dus aandacht voor innovatie. Dit is noodzakelijk om te overleven, juist in deze zeer moeilijke tijden voor het MKB. Daarom is de vraag om financiering veel méér dan vraag om werkkapitaal voor de dagelijkse bedrijfsvoering. Jan van Dellen: “Zonder investeringen in mensen, nieuwe processen, methoden en producten en ICT kan geen bedrijf succesvol blijven.”
De financieringstafel bestaat uit vertegenwoordigers van de Rabobank, ING, ABN-AMRO, Oost NL en The Economic Board Arnhem-Nijmegen. Het bestuurlijk overleg wordt voorgezeten door The Economic Board. Met deze publiek private samenwerking willen we in de gezamenlijke samenwerking impact maken om innovaties te versnellen en zo te kunnen bijdragen aan maatschappelijke vraagstukken.
