Golden Egg Check

🇪🇺 Two of our portfolio companies were selected by the European Innovation Council in the most competitive funding round so far! From over 4,000 applicants, both Deeploy and QDI systems were selected for a multi-million grant + investment. 𝙌𝘿𝙄 𝙎𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 QDI Systems develops disrupting X-ray and Short Wave Infrared imaging technology with quantum dots. 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮 Deeploy has the ambition to become the leading platform to monitor, control and explain AI models. "Europe has set a global standard for AI ethics and governance, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this movement. The EIC Accelerator funding allows us to scale our platform and ensure that AI deployed in Europe is not only powerful but also trustworthy, transparent, and aligned with European values." 𝗠𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗸, 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼-𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆 We're very proud of both companies, congrats teams! Artem Shulga Juul Gielens Maarten Stolk Bastiaan van de Rakt Tim Kleinloog Nick Jetten Ytsen van der Meer Anna Dyachenko Gilles Meijer Iryna P. Edoardo Sangiorgi

⚡ Alert ⚡ exclusive & informal learning event for HR tech scale-ups! Together with VIE Tech Capital we organise an afternoon for HR tech scale-ups in our portfolios on 7 March. Wendy Van Ierschot (VIE Tech Capital and VIE People | B Corp Certified): "We want to give back to you, founders and leaders in our portfolio companies. Designing an afternoon to interact and learn. To get inspired and energized." Thomas Mensink: “We believe in the power of real peer-to-peer, founder-to-founder interactions. Together with Wendy we decided to focus this event on the HR tech founders in our portfolios, as well as in the portfolio of G-Force Capital where both of us serve as advisors. I think we have an interesting program, but most importantly; interesting founders that will attend!” Prepare for interesting talks from: 👉 Wendy van Ierschot - VIE People - focussing on ups and downs in the scale up journey, leadership and founder journey 👉 Kristina van den Berg-Hutzler - Marble. Solid Financials - a practical session for scale-ups how to utilize financial data for growth 👉 Machiel Kunst - Bluebird -  best practices and painful mistakes that founders can make when hiring sales & tech people Bring your own challenge to the table in small groups and members will share their experiences and what they have learned with you. There will also be plenty of room for interaction, intensifying relationships and shared learnings! Date: Friday March 7 - 13:00 - 18:00  Location: Amsterdam  Register now > link in comments! (open for other HR tech scale-ups in the Dutch ecosystem, but spots are limited and selection applies). Robin van Dalen 🔸 Inuka Coaching (B Corp) Ryan Lang Sunkanmi Ola Arosha Brouwer Quan - employee well-being Seun Owolabi Ivan Ilin iki.ai Sarah Brehm Young Heroes

We agree: even though we aren't in the age of COVID anymore, remote teams can still be a great option for startups to attract in-house talent. But: what are the do’s and don’ts of remote teams? And how to prepare your organization for the introduction of remote teams? We’ll discuss this during a special seminar Golden Egg Check brings to you in cooperation with LUMO Labs, No Such Ventures, and Gapstars. Some of the topics the seminar will cover: ➜ Why or why not work with remote teams? ➜ Sharing some f*ck ups: a case study ➜ Top keys to success ➜ Pros and cons of cultural differences 📅 Tuesday, February 11th 📍 Gapstars, Amsterdam 🕙 4 pm Interested? The event is by invitation only. Please register here if you're interested in attending > link in comments

Did you already hear about the new year-long accelerator program BeStart introduces in April? This program is THE ultimate fast-track for sustainable tech companies ready to scale. Golden Egg Check helps scouting startups for this great initiative! Mariken Gaanderse: “This is already the 10th edition of our program for startups and Golden Egg Check again adds great value to the process of scouting startups. BeStart consists of a small team, we can't do everything ourselves. Golden Egg Check has a great network and knows exactly which startups are in which phase. We focus on climate tech startups that are past the early stage and are heading towards scale up. By selecting like-minded founders for the program, a community of startups is created that are all in the same phase and work from the same drive and purpose. They learn together and from each other. We know from previous programs that founders really appreciate this. They also value that our program covers a somewhat longer period. They can immediately apply what they have learned in practice and if they encounter any problems, there is on-the-spot support." The BeStart accelerator program is the ultimate chance for founders with scalable, sustainable solutions, startups with a prototype and product-market fit and go-getters with the ambition to transform into thriving scaleups to: ✅ Address real challenges in the climate tech landscape ✅ Gain insights, strategies, and connections to thrive ✅ Join a powerful network of investors, knowledge institutes, and experienced entrepreneurs in the North of the Netherlands 📅 Register now at https://www.bestart.nl After an initial screening, you’ll pitch to BeStart network, and selected startups will begin the program this April. 

💰 2024 was the third best funding year ever for Dutch startups, following the peak years 2021 and 2022! Dutch startups and scale-ups raised a total estimated amount of ca. €2.5 billion in 2024, an increase of 19% compared to 2023, when €2.1 billion was invested. In peak year 2021 this was €5.4 billion and in 2022 €2.9 billion.* These are the main insights from the Quarterly Startup Report, a quarterly data analysis by Golden Egg Check together with Dealroom.co, KPMG NL Emerging Giants, the Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen (ROM’s), Nederlandse Vereniging van Participatiemaatschappijen (NVP), Techleap, Invest-NL and Dutch Startup Association (dSa). But don't be fooled! Despite these strong figures, there was a decline in the fourth quarter: 🤔 In Q4, €460 million was invested, 26% less than in Q4 2023 (€620 million) and 2% less than in Q3 2024 (€470 million) 🤔 The number of deals decreased by 25% compared to Q4 2023, from 114 to 85 The top 3 biggest investments in Q4 of 2024 went to: Citryll – €85 million Cradle – $73 million Meatable – €30 million So what to make of this year? And what to expect for 2025? Curious what you think. Thomas Mensink says (but he can be wrong): “After a good start in the first quarter, I had expected and hoped that after almost two years of relative status quo, investment growth would pick up. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Many startups are having a harder time attracting follow-on funding, investors often have to step in with additional capital and they themselves need more time to raise new funds. So there are still many challenges. A better exit market in 2025 can ensure that investments also come on stronger.”  We'll share some more funding insights in the coming weeks. For now, read all about startup funding in Q4 2024 in the press release: link in comments * Golden Egg Check makes educated guesses for the undisclosed amounts, so we are able to make a good and consistent estimation about the state of venture capital in NL. The known/disclosed amount in Q4 was €416M and in 2024 €2.3B.

⚡ What a GREAT way to start the new year! ⚡ Our Data & Startup Analyst Anna Dyachenko was promoted to Investment Associate. Anna had been part of the Golden Egg Check team since 2021 and was ready for this next step.       Thomas Mensink: “Anna has been a part of our team for the last 4 years and she has become a foundation of our company. With our current fund and the plans to raise a second fund later this year, we decided to grow our investment team. With Anna's promotion to Investment Associate, I am confident that she can help us to realize the ambitions that we have to become a top 10 fund in Europe within 10 years.” When asking Anna for her reaction on the promotion and the words of Thomas, she can think of one word: “Finally!” 👊 Congrats Anna! 

🎇 2024 is almost a wrap! 🥂 How do we look back at this year? We talked about our most memorable moments and accomplishments while enjoying good food and drinks yesterday evening. And HELL YEAH, we are PROUD! 🤟 Anna Dyachenko: “Attending Slush and 5 more side events in the same week was the absolute highlight of 2024. Another milestone: I started with my masters in finance.” Gilles Meijer: “It was great to host a session with four fellow international VCs at the World Summit AI, realizing that 90% of the ‘sold out’ audience knew Golden Egg Check. Side note: my preparation was listening to Thomas’ performance on BNR Nieuwsradio that same morning. #Famous!” Thomas Mensink: “The best moment of 2024? Hearing ‘…OASYS NOW’ after the sentence ‘And the winner of Slush 100 is…’, and celebrating that with the other portfolio founders because ‘one of us’ won!”  Ytsen van der Meer: “I am very proud about the fact we closed the fund, oversubscribing at the hard cap.” Edoardo Sangiorgi: “On my end the most remarkable thing of 2024 would be the fast-track. From finishing my studies, joining Golden Egg Check, learning so much about the Dutch VC ecosystem in such little time and culminating with being on stage at our community event in front of 100+ people. Hectic and awesome last few months!” Erwin Starke: “Showcasing the Golden Egg Check software to the Indonesian incubation ecosystem for me was the absolute highlight of 2024.” Iryna P. We wish you great Christmas days and a fantastic 2025!

🎯 14 editions in 2024 🤝 20-minute speeddates ⚡ 500 startup-investor conversations 🤑 millions of capital invested Looking back on 2024, we hope and believe our StartupRoulette matchmaking event was again valuable for the startup ecosystem. We connected many founders and investors for an initial chat, resulting in real investments later on. And - eating our own dog food - we've invested with Golden Egg Check Capital in a number of companies that we met via StartupRoulette! Looking back, what do the StartupRoulette participants themselves say? Anouk Hubrechsen from ANTENNEX: “The StartupRoulette ended up being very beneficial for us, which I never would have guessed before the event. I was linked to Ronald Wissink from Value Creation Capital, and after a short conversation, it was clear that they were a fit with our company, and vice versa. They ended up being the lead investor in our €1.5M seed round. We are now actively working together in making ANTENNEX a great success!” Robert-Jan van der Steur from StartCapital Partners - Early stage investment fund invested in Beam Tracking and says: “StartupRoulette is a perfect way to get introduced to potential participations. And even in the case there is no match we do enjoy the conversations, which got echo-ed by the startups we talked to. Our latest investment came directly from the StartupRoulette so it is well worth the effort!” Boudewijn Hulst from NV NOM invested in Flixit B.V. : "Last year’s roulette was very useful and even led to our investment in Flixit, so I’d love to join in again!" Patrick van Rietschoten from Twin AI found one of his current angels via StartupRoulette. “StartupRoulette is great! Excellent pre-selection of investors so that there is no time wasted on both sides of the table. Feedback received was honest and always felt helpful towards the startup founders." Get ready for a new year of speeddates and sign up for the next edition in January (link in comments)! MXT Conference Upstream Festival ING Private Banking Nederland TNW Thematic Technology Transfer Enschede Slush'D Slush Netherlands Enterprise Agency Founded Crossroads Utrecht  FoodFest

Entrepreneurship, music, networking and tech. Together at one conference. Sounds like a party, doesn't it? These are the ingredients of MXT Conference 2025, the ‘cross-tech conference’ connecting the technology sector with traditional industries to accelerate innovation. The full Golden Egg Check team will be present at the Groningen based conference: 🎯 we organize a special edition of our StartupRoulette speeddate event 🍸 we will set the table for an investor dinner for participants of the Investor Readiness Program (together with the NV NOM) Tjarda Polderman (Founded, one of the partners of MXT): “This is already the third edition of what we call the ‘Small Slush’,” she says, referring to this huge yearly startup- en tech event. “Golden Egg Check has been part of MXT since the beginning and I dare to say that this cooperation is part of our success. No other company in the Netherlands is this experienced in the startup- and investor ecosystem. We share the same energy and the same ‘founder focussedness’.” And the great thing about MXT? It is in the same week as ESNS! So connect to founders and investors during the day, and listen to great live music from upcoming artists at night! Early birds buy their tickets now (link in comments & founders pay the cheapest tickets!) and can start their preparations for two days of triggering panel discussions, great music, strengthening their network and discovering great innovations.  

⚡ We had such a great time at Slush 2024! Came home from Helsinki with a lot of fresh and new insights 💡  Thomas Mensink: "I really enjoyed this edition of Slush again. It was great to catch up in-person with the founders of 8 of our portfolio companies that were in Helsinki. Many of them are making great progress, so it feels like our fund has some great momentum. And the cherry on the cake was the win of OASYS NOW in the Slush 100! Of course, as one of their first investors that was a proud moment for me, but it also felt that our other portfolio founders and the rest of the Dutchies at Slush were just as excited!" His Golden Egg Check collegae Anna Dyachenko adds: "I learned that European investors love to ask preventive questions and US based funds supportive questions. I noticed that I also ask a lot of preventive questions myself. So my take away: if you want to build better relationships with founders you should not put them in a defensive position but rather ask questions about the potential of their company.“ Sirius Cariqa Roseman Labs orq.ai Deeploy Lucy Cowper Niek J. Bouman Mario La Pergola Kaären Davoli Anastasia Kuskova Issam Tidjani Sohrab Hosseini Ytsen van der Meer Maarten Stolk Nima Salami Roderick Rodenburg Tamara Ciullo Sara Okhuijsen What was your most important thought travelling back home after Slush? Share in the comments! 👇