Each week, in our Sunday newsletter, we look back on the past seven days. Regarding content, we always do so at the initiative of our cartoonist, Albert Jan Rasker. He chooses a subject, draws a picture, and we take it from there.
LEVEL UP
Last Monday was the day: the Evoluon in Eindhoven was filled with startup entrepreneurs and other interested parties. Startups got the chance to strengthen their business with new knowledge and the experience of other founders during LEVEL UP. One of the most important lessons came from the self-discovery journey of entrepreneur Lars Carma: ‘It’s never too late to pivot.’
For the third edition of LEVEL UP, the organization explicitly looked beyond borders for the first time. The result: the most international edition so far. Bart was there and wrote these stories about it:
- Antennex wins LEVEL UP 2024 award, climaxing an inspiring event for the startup ecosystem
- Prince Constantijn van Oranje: “Failure is not the end; it’s part of building something bigger”
- Scaling AI startups: insights from industry leaders at LEVEL UP event
- Always Day One: How Amazon’s continued startup mentality drives innovation at scale
- From playground conversations in Shanghai to AI-powered recruitment: Rina Joosten-Rabou’s journey to impact
- Lars Crama: ‘It’s never too late to pivot’
- It must start with a vision, but there’s no roadmap for the next steps: Krijn de Nood’s journey in cultivated meat
Innovation Origins becomes IO+
It can hardly have escaped your notice, and yet I shamelessly begin this newsletter with it: Sometimes, you just feel that the jacket no longer fits. For the past year, we have been working behind the scenes to create a coat that does fit us. This week, we announced the launch of our rebranding.
Innovation Origins will become IO+, and all of our events—including the Jakajima conferences—will fall under IO+ Events. We will launch our new platform on November 14 at Mikrostad (Eindhoven), and we would love to see you there. More info will follow soon!
Behind the Figures
‘According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the plan will yield a maximum of 95,000 homes.’ Or: ‘Giftedness recognized four times better in ‘Diederick’ than in ‘Jalila” And: ‘Lelylijn €10 bln more expensive than budgeted.’
If you open any news platform, the numbers are dizzying. That is why Mauro, in his new series ‘Behind the Figures,‘ picks one figure from current events down. Using graphs and charts, we give the figure context so you can get more out of it, even if you are not keen on numbers.
- Episode #01: Food waste in Dutch supermarkets
- Episode #02: Summer 2024 was the hottest ever, but…
Here’s what else struck us last week:
- Must read of this week: Learning from nature: ARTIC Technologies builds pump with microhairs
- Invest-NL initiates brand new fund that supports scale-ups
- EU votes for import restrictions on Chinese electric cars
- TU Delft researchers take a close look at the condition of the Zeelandbrug
- ‘Disturbing’ police hack should be wake-up call for every business
- This company makes checking carbon footprints as easy as checking calories
- Europe vs. America: The battle for deep-tech talent heats up
Have a good week!
Aafke Eppinga
editor-in-chief at Innovation Origins
