Dutch start-ups to keep an eye on

In its ‘Dutch Funding Overview 2017’, StartupJuncture reports that over 757 million euros was invested in Dutch start-ups in 2017 – significantly more than the 260 million euros or so in 2016. The top 50 includes the technical companies Xeltis, Fairphone, The Ocean Cleanup, Clear Flight Solutions and SoundEnergy.

If investment is a barometer for the future success of young companies, then a number of start-ups can be seen here that we should keep an eye on in 2018. The blog StartupJuncture has ranked all Dutch start-ups according to the level of investment in 2017. Here is a selection of the best technical start-ups:

Xeltis takes 3^rd place with 45 million euros. Xeltis is working on a replacement heart valve (read: ‘Here is the best of 2018’) made of material that is gradually replaced by endogenous cells. This eventually leaves the patients with their own new heart valve. Twelve patients have already received the first Xeltis heart valves, with more individuals scheduled to receive a Xeltis heart valve this coming year.

Fairphone, holds 14^th place with 6.5 million. Fairphone is a start-up that develops environmentally friendly telephones (read: ‘Honest and sustainable smartphone’). This Fairphone 2 has a sustainable design and is modular, making it easy to repair. Fairphone aims to make its production chain as transparent as possible, including publishing a website that features an interactive map showing the origin of all Fairphone 2 components.

The The Ocean Cleanup start-up takes 24^th place with over 2.7 million. This company’s goal is to remove plastic from the ocean (read: ‘The Ocean Cleanup comes up with new design’) using a large screen hanging from a floating, U-shaped tube. Currents carry plastic in the ocean to this screen which, thanks to its U-shape, collects the plastic in the middle. The collected plastic is then fished out of the ocean and transported by ship to the coast. The Ocean Cleanup is currently working on techniques for recycling the plastic.

Clear Flight Solutions is in 25^th place with 2.6 million. This start-up has developed the Robird, a robot falcon (read: ‘Robot falcon tested at airport’). The Robird can be used to scare birds away from airports to prevent them from crashing into aircraft or being sucked into jet engines. Clear Flight Solutions also develops drones for specific aerial inspections: a drone with an infra-red camera, for example, is able to detect small deer in tall grass. The period in which deer gives birth overlaps with the maize harvesting season, but thanks to the drone sleeping deer can be detected before the combine comes along48^th place is taken by SoundEnergy with 1 million. SoundEnergy builds machines that use the heat of the sun to provide cooling (read: ‘This aircon cools using heat’). SoundEnergy's machines are great demand from countries with a lot of sun, such as Mexico and India. The current machine can cool to -40 °C, but SoundEnergy is already working on a version that can cool down to -160 °C.

StartupJuncture is a blog about all aspects relating to Dutch start-ups. It was founded in 2012 by four writers familiar with the business world and a passion for start-ups. Every year they publish a list of all Dutch start-ups and how much was invested in them. In 2017, Thuisbezorgd was number 1 with 378 million, followed by the online supermarket Picnic with 100 million.

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