What an amazing night celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship! We are incredibly proud to see our incredible startups shine at the 20th Philips Innovation Award Grand Final! ✨

Last night at Theater Rotterdam, eight exceptional student-led startups battled it out live for the Netherlands’ top student entrepreneurship honor: the prestigious Philips Innovation Award. In front of a packed audience and a jury of industry giants, including Philips CEO Roy Jakobs, two groundbreaking ideas from our community ultimately claimed the top prizes:

🏆 Innovator Award – Lumox for their light-activated cancer therapy that targets tumors with precision, reducing the need for invasive surgery.

💎 Rough Diamond Award– I See U Baby Care, whose AI-powered monitoring system helps premature babies sleep better, supporting both families and hospital staff.

Alongside the pitches, the audience was treated to inspiring talks from speakers like Ali Niknam (bunq), Eline van Beest (Hybridize Therapeutics), and Joost Smit (Google).

It’s especially inspiring to see female founders such as Chanel Sam and Irati Beltrán Hernández leading the charge and making such a significant impact with their innovative solutions. ❣️

What to expect if you start a science-based company

Do you want to understand what it takes to launch a science-based startup? UtrechtInc’s four-week Ideation Program, a simple free online evening course, could be your first step towards making a significant impact with your research.

In this program, we delve into the entrepreneurial sphere, addressing key questions such as:

• What defines a startup?
• How can a startup incubator assist me?
• Is entrepreneurship the right path for me?
• Can entrepreneurship coexist with an academic career?

You will participate in an expert session each Monday and an optional progress session each Wednesday, both running from 20.00-21.00 hours.

DEADLINE: September 3 2025

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UtrechtInc’s partners with ICAT to offer full  support to Life Sciences & MedTech innovators, all the way from ideation to early commercialisation!

UtrechtInc is proud to launch a strategic partnership with ICAT (Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies), creating a modular support system for startups working on next-generation medical technology and advanced therapeutics. With support from the Provincie Utrecht, our enhanced program offers an even stronger platform for life sciences & medical technology startups, helping founders bring innovative therapies to patients faster and smarter.

Located at ICAT’s Open Innovation Facility at Utrecht Science Park in Zeist, ICAT welcomes startups at all stages of development, from ideas to established ventures, with access to state-of-the-art  infrastructure and field experts. This offer complements UtrechtInc’s dedicated mentorship, extensive business network expertise and guidance on market readiness, tech validation, corporate partners, matchmaking events, dedicated mentorship, and an extensive business network.

What value does ICAT add to the UtrechtInc offering?

Fully equipped lab space in an open shared innovation environment. State-of-the art equipment for:

• Tissue engineering & biomaterials

• Histology & microscopy

• Cell and tissue analysis

• Viral vectors

• Cell expansion platforms

• 3D printing & Bioprinting platforms

Access to a team of experts: Regulatory, GMP compliance, Health Tech Assessment & Economics, QA, QC and Business Development.

Whether you’re building the next breakthrough in medical technology or advanced therapeutics, this collaboration helps you validate, scale, and connect.

Interested in joining? Reach out to Stefan Braam (UtrechtInc) or Naya Moutsatsou (ICAT) for more information.

Let’s build the future of advanced therapies together.

Are you a proactive and enthusiastic student with a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation?

Are you ready to take on an exciting role that combines networking, promotion, and talent scouting while pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone?

Look no further! We are seeking motivated individuals like you to become part of the Student Startup Scout team for our university-linked startup incubator.

About UtrechtInc

UtrechtInc is a leading Dutch startup incubator and a top 10 university-linked incubator in the world. We help startup founders develop their entrepreneurial skills, build their networks, and launch scalable technology and science companies. UtrechtInc has supported over 450 startups in the past 10 years, including GitLab, Channable, and Argenx.

Position overview

As a Student Startup Scout, you will help us find and support the next student entrepreneurs within the Utrecht Science Park. Take initiative to connect with lecturers, students, and stakeholders to expand our reach & impact the entrepreneurial journey of students.

Working closely with our team, your responsibilities will include actively promoting our student incubator program and events, demonstrating a “now or never” attitude in scheduling presentations and knowledge institutes.

This is a part-time opportunity with flexible hours, averaging 10 hours per week, which you can independently schedule.

Responsibilities

• Step out of your comfort zone and connect with lecturers, students, and stakeholders to find promising student startups.
• Follow up consistently and maintain personal contact with potential candidates.
• Develop outreach strategies to promote our Student Validation Program.Represent UtrechtInc at networking events, career days, and student association events.
• Create engaging content for social media, website, and promotional materials.

Benefits

• Gain knowledge in entrepreneurship, marketing, networking, and relationship building.
• Flexible 10 hrs/wk part-time role, you set your schedule.
• Monthly financial compensation.
• Make an impact on student startups and the ecosystem.
• Expand your network with professionals, entrepreneurs, and students.
• Launch your career with access to UtrechtInc’s network of 35 in-house and 450 community startups.

Requirements

• Currently enrolled at UU, HU, or UMCU (Medicine).
• Genuine passion for entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proactive and able to work independently and collaboratively
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple tasks & goals.

Submit your CV and a brief cover letter telling us about your passion for entrepreneurship and your relevant experiences to info@utrechtinc.nl

UtrechtInc is buzzing with the arrival of a large and dynamic group of student entrepreneurs in our Student Validation Program! 🎉 The energy and ambition of these young innovators are truly inspiring, pointing towards an exciting future of innovation.

A big welcome and best of luck to Tappie, ASAP, Flow On The Go, Lency, Tussentijd, MyVentro, Scalaprint, Bioblocks, Toetstester, Angrolytics, The AI Club, rijlesmarkt.nl

Welcome startups to our Spring Tech Validation Program.
We have five amazing startups have been selected for our spring science validation program, started on March 31.

U-care – founded by Joey van Rooijen
U-care connects patients to effective therapists using data-driven matching and practice-based evidence, focusing on science-backed natural medicine.

MoAI – founded by Marijn Craenen and Gregor Figueira Comojo.
MoAI is an AI-powered enterprise search tool that enables employees to find company data through natural language queries and interactive search.

Packstract – founded by Anne van Seters, Joyce Datema, Melvin van Rookhuizen.
PackStract helps producers organize and analyze packaging data for compliance, sustainability, and ESG/CSRD reporting.

Stadsapp – founded by Niels Oskam.
Stadsapp is a city app that facilitates interaction between citizens, municipalities, and local businesses, using AI to simplify government services.

Welcome startups to our Spring Science-based Validation Program.
We have five fantastic startups have been selected for our spring science validation program, started on March 24.

Fiskemed – Founded by Jan Bogerd
Develops drugs to create sterility in farmed fish, offering a sustainable solution to genetic introgression and precocious male puberty.

TeamMeUp – Founded by Ioanna Lykourentzou & Pedro Santoro Zambon
Develops an online platform for automated matchmaking, enhancing connections in the games industry.

Xcellerate – Founded by Benjamin Smits & Vincent de Boer
Enhances cellular therapeutic development by delivering scalable, real-time metabolic analysis. Their approach allows generation of absolute metabolic characterization, increasing efficiency, accuracy, and reproducibility of key metabolic indicators to predict therapeutic effectiveness.

Doing Responsible AI at scale – Founded by Yuval Temam
The solution is a tool that takes policy guidelines and validates the GenAI and its Large Language Model (LLM) against benchmarks.

There’s no golden rule for startup success,” says Lars-Eric Fielmich, Co-Founder of DataChaperone, “but the validation program provided me with knowledge and feedback to carve out our own path.

We are proud to share that our community is growing, now supporting more than 430 startups, the majority of which have completed our programs, and whose survival rate remains steadily above 60%.  

This year, our focus is on the success of our non-IPO startups. We are pleased to report that they have secured €747 million in funding, generated over €343 million in revenue, and created 3,000 jobs, demonstrating the significant economic impact of UtrechtInc’s initiatives.

Since 2009, UtrechtInc has played a pivotal role in the Dutch startup ecosystem. Our success is further amplified by our extensive network of over 100 mentors and experts and 15 service partners, including Benvalore, Ugoo, and Ernst & Young.

The program at UtrechtInc has helped me focus on what experiments I need to perform for the patent and for building the startup and its business plan” says Lucas Czentner, Co-founder and CEO of Ayuvant.

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We are thrilled to introduce the innovative startups participating in our Science Validation Programme. These groundbreaking ventures are set to revolutionize their respective fields with cutting-edge solutions.

💥Meet our new startups:

✨DNA-poli, founded by Marten Siemelink and J. Peter van Tintelen
DNA-poli is launching an app to inform at-risk relatives of patients with genetic diseases. This app will be accessible to all healthcare providers, enhancing the efficacy and efficiency of genetic care.

✨Optimus HealthTech, founded by Yaron Goldstein and Ohad Peled
Optimus streamlines safety operations and reporting in clinical trials using automation and AI-driven technology, creating a transparent and efficient Safety Desk process.

✨ALPHABET, founded by Julia Berezutskaya
ALPHABET empowers individuals who cannot speak or move due to paralysis by restoring their ability to communicate, control a computer, and manage a smart home, offering newfound independence and connection with the world.

✨Insight, founded by Constanza Andaur Navarro and Vjola Hoxhaj
Insight provides comprehensive reports and expert guidance on how variations across data sources can impact research outcomes. Our software helps researchers identify and correct inconsistencies, increasing the reliability and accuracy of their studies.

✨Fungal Waste Treats Water Taste, founded by Brigit Van Brenk
This startup uses fungal waste substrate to purify wastewater by removing micropollutants like pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals. This eco-friendly process enhances water quality and offers a sustainable solution to reduce water contamination.

✨mediventic, founded by Marco Cevat
Pioneering wearable medical technology to capture all vital physiological data stream in real-life conditions with the aim to prevent cardiac arrhythmia and dysfunctional breathing syndromes through gender specific, personalized treatments.

Join us in welcoming these visionary startups to our incubator! 🚀