Koen Van der Burg explains how facilitators help startups to bring their business into the Netherlands. If this is something of your interest just visit Crosspring website for more details.
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Koen van der Burg the program manager of Crosspring explains how this tech incubator located in the Netherlands helps startups develop from early stages. Crosspring’s program is 18 months long and they provide funding from€10k to €200k.
1. What is a startup visa and how does it work?
The Dutch government wants to stimulate more innovative startups to start and grow their businesses from the Netherlands. For that, the government provides a special visa for entrepreneurs that want to open up their business there.
The government appoints incubators and accelerators to be facilitators on their behalf. These organizations, like Crosspring, are responsible for evaluating if startups’ business models are a good fit for the Dutch market. After getting into an agreement with the facilitator, startups are directed to the government for the final acceptance. You can also start this process from contacting the government directly. Once you do this, the government itself will introduce you to a facilitator based on you business focus.
2. Why do companies choose to come to the Netherlands?
In general, Dutch business culture offers a favorable environment for those who want to start a innovative company. Dutch people are very adaptable to technology and have an early-adaptor mindset, which breakes a lot of barriers to put a new product in the market.
In addidion to that, they are very direct in terms of doing business. There is no time wasting with the Dutch – they give you the honest feedback you need right away. For a startup, that’s amazing.
Finally, the Netherlands is a great place for companies who want to further expand abroad. Everyone in the Netherlands speaks English very well and are very internationally minded. They are historically known for international trades. Therefore, the country offers many benefits for international companies, such as: international treaties, tax incentives, and amazing connectivity with other countries.
3. What is the role of the facilitator?
The role of a facilitator is to select the right startup and then to assist them towards growth. However, it is different for each incubator on how they want to facilitate and candidates must meet certain criteria. For instance, showing that the company is likely to be successful in the future.
For Crosspring, the main aim is to invest in startups. However, they do provide startup visa without investing on them too. Crosspring also offers co-working space with a charge, funding, networks, business development, and business monitoring.
4. What is Crosspring selection criteria for startups?
- A proven model
- A solid plan for the first year (plan for the fund, where to reside, where to reach target customers, etc)
- The team: the structure of the company and team members who are moving here
- A pitch deck: A brief pitch deck that includes the problem, the solution, the target market, and a financial plan
5. What is the governmental criteria for startups to enter the Netherlands?
The most important thing is to have a good reason to come to the Netherlands. As well as being likely to have a successful business in the first year. Additionally, their idea must be new to the Dutch market and be a solution to an existing need.
6. Any additional tips for startups coming to the Netherlands?
It is very important to startups to have a good solid plan that includes their type of business, future predictions, funding resources and everything else that is necessary to know before moving to another country.
