Weekly recap: Gerard, Anton, and Frederik

Why we do this weekly review:

In our weekly recap on Sunday, we as editors look back at the past seven days. We do this at the suggestion of our cartoonist Albert Jan Rasker. He chooses a subject, makes a drawing, and we take it from there. What were we talking about in the newsroom? What other topics caught our eye? How do we work at Innovation Origins? Everything can come by. If you also want this newsletter straight to your inbox every Sunday morning, just subscribe here.

A battery that is not only stretchable but also biodegradable. We’ll have to accept the fact that the energy density is disappointing for now, but this is obviously what we would like – at least for some specific purposes. Most important right now: wearable patches with a sensor that requires (a little) energy. For Albert Jan Rasker, it was the topic of the week, a topic also on which he could unleash his visual imagination. See above.

But in all honesty, for the editors this week, the focus was mainly on the Gerard & Anton Awards: our annual party for start-ups in Brainport Eindhoven. They took place for the eighth time already, and over the years, it has become clear that this is not just another election. Winners of this award have a very good chance of doing well in the following years. Specifically: where typically not even two out of ten start-ups are successful, for our former winners, it is as much as eight out of ten.

That was the reason for in-depth research, the first results of which we presented on Thursday at the Level Up event, which had a full day of focus on start-ups. Innovation Origins co-organized this event. It was the best “pre-event” ever for our Gerard & Anton Awards!

And for our new followers: Gerard and Anton are the founders of the first Eindhoven start-up: light bulb factory Philips. Gerard the technician, Anton the trader. Together with their father Frederik (the financier), they managed to build a world empire. Be sure to read our story about this year’s winners, the article about the investigation into the 70 former winners, or the report about Level Up. And, of course, all the winners get a separate story. The first one, about Aristotle, has been published.

What else stood out

If you want to read everything from last week, click here. These were the pieces that caught my eye the most:

The series on heat islands in cities is a few more episodes in. Marvel with us at the tremendously high ground temperatures in the Netherlands. In some cities well above 50 degrees in built-up areas. Here the whole series so far.

Until recently, millions of disposable cups were still used in the Netherlands until a ban on these plastic cups came into effect in July 2021. Three ambitious students have found an alternative to this: edible cups. Maximilian Schupp (21) tells more about it.

Faster charging, higher safety, and 30 percent more energy: GDI is cracking the silicon code and, thanks to a 13 million investment, is ready to scale up battery anode production. Founder Robert Anstey tells us how.

Share.eu donates a day of clean drinking water in impoverished countries for every drink purchased. Whether it’s shampoo, granola bars, or notebooks, every purchase should contribute to something good, the company claims. We spoke with the founders.