During the online Groningen OPEN event on Wednesday, November 18, three matches were announced: Cloetta starts a collaboration with LEF, FC Groningen continues with Rockfeather and MercachemSyncom with Gecco Biotech. During the event, the four larger companies presented themselves and the challenge they had formulated for Groningen OPEN. Then six selected startups were allowed to give a short pitch, presenting their solution(s) direction. The three startups that have a match with a larger company will each receive 1,500 euros and start a pilot project together with the company.
The aim of the new initiative 'Groningen OPEN' is to connect established companies and startups in the region in an accessible and effective way. Groningen OPEN is organized by Campus Groningen, Founded in Groningen, VentureLab North and Flinc (part of NV NOM).
Paul de Rook, alderman for the municipality of Groningen, opened the online event and mentioned the importance of contacts between larger companies and startups: "In this way, we can find solutions to challenges faced by companies and at the same time work on new employment and entrepreneurship." This first edition of Groningen OPEN is made possible by the Groningen Accord.
Groningen OPEN Match Between Cloetta And LEF
Start collaboration process
For this first edition of Groningen OPEN, four companies from the Northern Netherlands formulated challenges: Cloetta, FC Groningen, MercachemSyncom and Krinkels. Three of the four companies announced a match with a startup during the Groningen OPEN Event.
LEF will devise a playful way for Cloetta to bring the positive effects of Xylitol on oral health to the attention of Dutch consumers. Rockfeather is going to help FC Groningen provide insight into their KPIs in a (live) dashboard. And Gecco Biotech is going to supply specific enzymes for MercachemSyncom. These three matches will start a pilot process of 6 to 12 weeks. If the company then agrees to the startup's proposal / prototype, the actual collaboration will start. The partners of Groningen OPEN will support this pilot process.
Bert-Erik Remmelink of Krinkels indicated that they have not yet found a complete match for their challenge. During the preliminaries, Remmelink spoke with parties that could offer a partial solution for the challenge. He appeals to other startups that may be able to offer a solution to apply to Groningen OPEN. In addition, the partners of Groningen OPEN are making efforts to find parties for Krinkels' challenge.
Groningen OPEN Match MercachemSyncom And Gecco Biotech
OPEN for innovation
Groningen OPEN is a new initiative of Campus Groningen, Founded in Groningen, VentureLab North and Flinc (part of NV NOM). After this first edition it will be evaluated how the program can be organized as effectively as possible in the future. Established companies wishing to participate in a subsequent edition of Groningen OPEN can contact us via the details on the website
