Oculoo, Sano Sole and Hemicron winners of the first edition of The Entrepreneurial Experience

The show began with a few words of motivation from presenter Mike Verkouter of Novel-T: "I have been hosting these kinds of award shows for years, and the best part is what happens afterwards. Because it is not always the winners who achieve the most success. For instance, Codesandbox is one of the most successful startups the UT has produced, yet they never made it to the final of the UT Challenge. So who knows what will happen after today."

With these words, the show continued with an introduction of the partners and the story of entrepreneur Emile Nijssen of Athom. His smart-home invention, Homey, was acquired by LG Electronics for millions. A major success story, which began as an idea from two students who set up the first successful Kickstarter. Emile: “When we launched our MVP, on the one hand, we were proud; on the other hand, we hoped that everything would work. And we knew that something would go wrong, which is why we kept our production close to home so we could act quickly if needed.” The hardware had to work, the software had to be easy to update, but the most important thing was the people. “The team was the most important thing. Without a good team, you get nowhere.” Emile is now passing on the success he achieved as an investor in startups.

An inspiring story for the finalists, who are at the same point Emile was at 13 years ago, with little more than an idea and a dream.The finalists from the Ideation Category were the first to pitch, who developed their ideas during The Entrepreneurial Experience. The polished pitches of diverse ideas were met with loud applause and positive energy from the audience. Next, the finalists from the Startup Category took the stage; they already had a validated business idea and sometimes even a pending patent application. During the jury deliberation, student brass band ToHuWaBoHu really livened things up with cheerful medleys of well-known songs.

After the performance, the jury returned to announce the winners. Sano Sole was the first to receive a cheque for the ASML Young Makers award. Later, they were also surprised with the Ideation award. Sano Sole is working on a smart insole to prevent diabetic foot ulcers. Before the main prize was announced, Hemicron received the Novel-T Impact award, which was partly determined by the public. Hemicron is developing a data-driven method to predict and prevent migraines. The winner of the major Thales Business award was Oculoo, with their innovative eye drop glasses. We look back on a successful afternoon full of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship.