The start-up world is a world without borders

Former European Commissioner Neelie Kroes is currently committed to StartupDelta, an initiative to put Dutch startups higher on the European map. During ZP Radio's broadcast at the VVD congress in Arnhem, she will tell all about it.

After 10 years as euro commissioner, Kroes was asked at the end of her term by President Rutte and Minister Henk Kamp to create a better climate for startup entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. ''We want to make sure the Netherlands is in the top three start-up locations in Europe within a year and a half. This is an ambitious plan for the whole of the Netherlands, but Amsterdam is already selling nicely. We are going to organize all kinds of start-up activities in large hubs such as in Groningen, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Delft and Amsterdam. The goal is for the start-ups to work together, but also with universities, research institutes, enterprises and business. Those organizations all need to communicate with each other.”

Flexible labor

Asked if the labor market is already flexible enough to compete, Kroes says: ''No, absolutely not! A start-up sometimes has gold in its hands, such as the opportunity to get started on a big order, or on the next innovation, but it is not always in a position to suddenly attract a number of level engineers. Especially since the risks are high. This is why a flexible labor market is important for start-ups. Often the bottleneck is not with the start-ups, but with the opportunities for growth. With StartupDelta, we are expanding business networks and engaging investors. It is important to interest venture capital organizations in Dutch initiatives as well.''

No limits

''We started at the beginning of this year, so we still have a year to go. It is fascinating, and almost amazing, what we have already gotten moving.'' Not only talking about StartupDelta and its name recognition, but also what is happening in the startup world. It's actually a world where there are no borders and I'm extremely impressed with the talent in the Netherlands.''