If we open up the entrepreneurial playground to everyone

By Elcke Vels

The Netherlands cherishes equality as a core value. Unfortunately, reality seems to be far from this ideal image. Even in the playground of tech entrepreneurs, not everyone is allowed to play along. However, that does not stop me from dreaming about a softer reality.

Are you a woman or from a migration background? Unfortunately, then you have a much smaller chance of successfully launching your tech company in the Netherlands. Not even one per cent of start-up funding goes to women. Can’t get worse, you might think. Yet; for people of colour, the situation is even more unfortunate.

And that is more than a shame. Because we actually need a diverse group of tech entrepreneurs so that products are developed that meet the needs of everyone. Because let’s face it: do you know exactly what problems someone from a different culture faces when it comes to health or education?

While this is our current reality, it is not set in stone. The entrepreneurial world can open its gates to ‘newcomers’. What if opportunities were no longer limited by your background or skin colour, but by the power of your idea? What would the world look like then?

Welcome to the Idea Jamboree

First things first: how in our dream world did they manage to make entrepreneurship for all? The annual VR entrepreneurship event IdeeJamboree has made a big contribution to that. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs from all over the world came together virtually during the fourth edition to pitch their ideas to investors.

Everyone changed shape. The colour of your skin no longer mattered. To keep it fun, there were different avatars, or ‘guises’ you could assume. Scientifically chosen, of course, so that it could be said with certainty that they had a neutral effect on the human brain: The Sunflower, the School Bus and the Star. The event is a great opportunity to step outside traditional frames of mind. Your voice is automatically distorted during your pitch. Unfortunately, presentation blunders were not fished out. But practice makes perfect!

Daydreaming: A secret force in our hurried society

“So, you can only sit still for two minutes without getting bored? That worries me, Elcke,” notes the Buddhist, enveloped in his ornate saffron-colored robe.

The female heart

Isabella Silva was in the spotlight during this edition; a skilled entrepreneur from Rio de Janeiro who raised the largest amount of money – 25 million euros – at the event for her revolutionary medtech solution Fempulse. This wearable is specially designed for the female heart. It is equipped with advanced biosensors that not only track heart rate, but also specific female biometric markers, such as hormonal fluctuations.

Besides helping FemPulse patients in the here and now, this invention also plays a crucial role in catching up with the great knowledge gap about the female body in the scientific community.

High-tech learning methods

Gerard Tan, an enthusiastic, Dutch entrepreneur with an Indonesian background, also raised a hefty five million euros during the investment round. When he moved to the Netherlands at the age of 14, he encountered language barriers in education. He himself sometimes struggled to follow lessons and fell behind. Driven by his experiences, Gerard developed a high-tech ‘textbook’, KnowHow, which uses artificial intelligence. The book measures real-time biomarkers, such as pupil size, of students using a special device. Should the need arise, the teaching material is also translated in real-time.

As a result of this innovation, people from migrant backgrounds have measurably more opportunities, further reducing the gap in educational attainment.

National borders are blurring

The impact of IdeaJamboree goes beyond funding individual companies. Slowly but surely, a global collaboration between entrepreneurs, investors and experts has emerged. A vibrant international community working together to solve global challenges. There is, to a much greater extent than in the past (for us: the present), global collaboration on implementing projects focused on clean energy. For instance, another project was born during the VR event, a collaboration between China and the Netherlands aimed at building intercontinental hydrogen pipelines.

And perhaps more importantly, the event brought about a lasting shift in our view of what characterises a competent entrepreneur. Investing in women or minority groups is no longer seen as an additional risk for investors; we now understand that the ideas of these groups are certainly not inferior.

Opening the gates

In short, if we open the entrepreneurial playground wide to all, ideas will emerge that blow us over. Then again, let’s see which entrepreneurs can swing the highest!