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It’s easy to see why global investment platform fDi Intelligence ranked Amsterdam a heavyweight for direct investment, maintaining its number two spot among major European cities. With a highly educated and skilled workforce, excellent digital connectivity, and a central location, the Dutch capital is emerging as the EU’s alternative choice to London’s financial market. A hub for responsible artificial intelligence, local AI startups are thriving, as are those in sustainable and cleantech, supported by citywide initiatives on renewable energy, circular economy, and smart urban solutions.
Talent from all over the world flocks to Amsterdam to enjoy its rich cultural heritage, flawless English proficiency, and emphasis on work-life balance. Global quality-of-life database Numbeo placed the Netherlands in its top spot, based on factors like the cost of living, health care, and commute times. Travel (or lack thereof) only propels this supportive, collaborative startup ecosystem. As Joël Dori, of StartupAmsterdam, points out: “Everyone is literally one bike ride away.”
Nostics
Founded in 2020, Nostics’ medical diagnostics platform uses advanced algorithms to deliver speedier test results and more accurate treatment plans at the point of care. “Practitioners put a urine sample into the device’s filter cartridge, start measurement through the app, at which point nanotechnology-based lasers generate data which is analyzed to find the infection and prompt more effective treatment, all in the space of an appointment,” says Rochelle Niemeijer, who cofounded the €10 million seed-funded startup with Johan Pieter Verwey, Eva Rennen, and Vincent Laban. Taking such cutting-edge solutions from the lab into the world has taken a multidisciplinary team of microbiologists, software engineers, data scientists, and product designers, but they will begin by bringing the device and app to market to detect UTIs, which across their lifetime, affects 50 to 60 percent of women. In the long-term future, the Nostics team will develop the algorithms to recognize an even wider variety of infections, from STIs to blood infections. nostics.com
Hadrian
Launched by cybersecurity experts Rogier Fischer, Olivier Beg, Tijl Van Vliet, and Maurice Clin, Hadrian adheres to the maxim “Hackers know hackers best.” The SaaS platform takes a proactive approach to security, searching for possible vulnerabilities in IT systems as an outsider would. Now monitoring over 1 million domains and IPs, it aims to hit 1 billion by 2028. “Over the past year, our ethical hackers have been developing and training our Orchestrator AI which powers the platform, so it can detect the latest exploits and automatically remove an incorrectly predicted vulnerability with a high degree of accuracy,” says cofounder and CEO Rogier Fischer. To date, Hadrian has raised €20 million, most notably from HV Capital, ABN AMRO, and Adriaan Mol. hadrian.io
Source.ag
“Greenhouse agriculture, which produces higher yields than arable land and uses less water than traditional farming methods, is a proven solution to sustainable and climate-resilient food production,” says Rien Kamman, CEO and cofounder of agtech startup Source.ag. Founded by Kamman and Ernst van Bruggen in 2020, the startup harnesses AI to simulate, compare, and track the cultivation of greenhouse plantations. Using its software, a bell pepper nursery in northwestern Netherlands, for example, increased fruit weight by 10 percent. Raising $39 million to date, Astanor Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, and several of the Netherlands’ leading greenhouse operators are among its long-term investors. The team has grown from 20 to 80 people in the past year, with a 10-fold increase in users. Initially focusing on peppers and tomatoes, Source.ag plans to expand its AI to feature more vegetable crops and farming methods. source.ag
Insify
Business insurance is a headache for SMEs and freelancers. Due to expensive, ill-fitting policies offered by legacy players, many simply go without. Enter Insify, an end-to-end digital insurance platform with policies tailored specifically for European entrepreneurs and micro businesses. Policies can be generated online within minutes, with no need for complex paperwork. Founded in 2020 by former CEO of flower-delivery startup Bloomon, Koen Thijssen, the insurtech company has grown its customer base from 1,500 in 2022 to 10,000. Led by Munich Re Ventures, it raised an additional €10 million in June 2023, bringing its total Series A funding to €25 million. New investors include Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg and Opera Tech Ventures, the VC arm of BNP Paribas Group. Having established a disability insurance product in the Netherlands, Insify is expanding to Germany and France, with health, property, and casualty insurance. insify.nl
The Selection Lab
Through a combination of tests, including a Big Five personality questionnaire and cognitive intelligence games, the Selection Lab makes measuring a job candidate’s soft skills simpler and more objective. Tests can be completed on any device, with results provided instantly, at which point people are matched to the most appropriate roles. While traditional assessment products require training costs of €1,500 to €3,000 per user, with results taking months, Selection Lab starts at $35 a month for hiring teams. Founders Lotte Welten, Joeri Everaers, and Jordi Wippert launched the plug-and-play assessment management software in 2018, and have expanded the client base from 12 companies in 2021 to 154. It’s a hit with angel investors, too—raising €560,000 with Arches Capital, and soon to raise €1 million through Borski and Arches Capital. theselectionlab.com
Aiir Innovations
Using an AI-powered software system trained on thousands of aircraft engine inspections, Aiir Innovations improves the efficiency of defect detections and shortens time taken to inspect the inside of each jet engine by up to 30 percent. Connected to a borescope (a snake-like camera that enters the engine to inspect the blades), the computer vision tech automates and smoothes the reporting process but, as cofounder and CEO Bart Vredebregt assures, it doesn’t “replace human expertise.” Established in 2016 by University of Amsterdam students in AI, it’s used by customers such as Air France and KLM. Its latest €2.1 million funding round was announced in January 2023, from contributors like Mainport Investment Fund, Hearstlab International, and the Borski Fund. aiir.nl
tex.tracer
Bringing transparency to an opaque area of the fashion industry, tex.tracer’s SaaS platform works as a repository for manufacturers’ company data, factory pictures, audit reports, and product and emission data, which is verified through timestamps and geo-location data. Evidence is sent for approval to the next step in the supply chain, creating a digital handshake when it matches the physical product. Stored on a private enterprise blockchain, it’s an immutable ledger for brand owners and retailers. Its 50-strong client base—including MUD Jeans, Fabienne Chapot, and Livera—use the tool to halve due-diligence work on theirs and the supplier’s side, and avoid greenwashing. Shoppers can scan QR codes in-store to check the garment’s history. Founders Jolanda Kooi and Bart Westerman, who established tex.tracer in 2020, are using its €1.5 million in funding to grow the business internationally, starting with the UK and Nordics. tex-tracer.com
Farmless
Founded by Adnan Oner in 2022, Farmless makes carbon-negative microbial proteins without animals or agricultural land. Instead of using sugar for the fermentation process, it creates liquid feedstock from hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured from the air. It claims its protein breweries and carbon-capture facilities require 10 to 25 times less land than plant protein, and 250 to 500 times less than animal protein. The hope is to “rewild vast amounts of land, draw down carbon from the atmosphere, and liberate animals from the food system,” via the application of its fermentation platform, expanding from just proteins to carbohydrates, beneficial fats, vitamins, and minerals. A year into its mission, it’s raised €1.2 million in pre-seed funding, followed by €4.8 million in seed funding, and is working toward regulatory approval for its first product. farmless.com
KOSA AI
Founded by Layla Li and Sonali Sanghrajka in 2021, KOSA AI enables businesses in health care, HR, credit and risk, and insurance to detect, audit, and explain bias in their AI models. For example, analyzing X-ray images used in training a diagnostic AI that identifies strokes, and working out which layer of the algorithm is responsible for biased decisions such as systematically underdiagnosing women over 65. Using checks against the latest regulatory recommendations and ethical frameworks such as GDPR and the new EU AI Act, it then implements corrective steps to address or mitigate the bias. Once deployed, the startup can also help monitor a company’s AI models to avoid any emerging bias. In July 2021, its pre-seed funding round was led by EchoVC Partners and APX. kosa.ai
Settly
According to Manpower Group, 40 percent of international employee moves result in a return home sooner than anticipated, or a departure to another company. Settly’s digital relocation platform tackles the hurdles with a personalized approach. Employees receive ongoing support while settling into their new country, from access to local, new-arrival communities, events, and experts to learn about topics like housing, schooling, and health care, plus bespoke content resources for each surrogate country. Founded by Marieke van Iperen and Kimo Paula in 2019, Settly raised €6 million from Impact Fund and Mediahuis Ventures in June, which it will use to expand into new markets. getsettly.com
This article appears in the January/February 2024 issue of WIRED UK magazine.
Updated 12-14-2023 10:30 am GMT: Funding information for Farmless was updated.
Updated 1-3-2024 15:30 pm GMT: The piece was updated to reflect the fact that, since being written, Nostics has moved to focusing solely on urine sampling, and isn’t currently focusing on blood sampling.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
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