Exporting Dreams
Europe breeds brilliant founders, but scaling globally is a whole different game. The U.S. offers bigger markets, bolder investors, and brutal competition. Asia offers scale, Latin America offers a growing audience. So how do European founders leap without losing their soul (or their sanity)? This fireside chat brings together founders who’ve tried, some who thrived, some who crashed, to share what it really takes to turn ambition into global reality. We’ll talk culture shock, fundraising differences, scaling strategies, and whether “thinking bigger” always means “going West.”
WTF Is Product-Market Fit Anyway?
Every founder wonders: have we hit product-market fit yet, or are we just fooling ourselves? In this lab we get brutally honest about what PMF actually looks like, how to measure it, and how to know when you’re ready to scale. Expect live founder stories, practical tools, and interactive scans that will help you figure out whether your customers truly love your product, or are just being polite.
Oops, I Founded Again
Some people just can’t stop. One startup fails, another takes off, and before you know it, they’re back at it again. This session is for the serial entrepreneurs who’ve lived through multiple ventures — the highs, the heartbreaks, and the irresistible pull to build again (and again). Expect unfiltered stories about lessons learned, the scars they carry, and why, despite everything, founders keep coming back for more.
Semi-Finals of the Zorginnovatie Award
The Zorginnovatie Award is the annual prize celebrating the most promising healthcare innovation in the Netherlands. In this semi-final round, organised in collaboration with Health~Holland, selected health startups and impact-driven teams present their solutions for the future of care. In short, high-energy pitches, the semi-finalists showcase how their innovations contribute to better healthcare, greater efficiency and improved quality of life. A professional jury will assess each idea on scalability, impact and originality. Join us to watch, support and help identify which innovations will advance to the national final—potentially becoming the next breakthrough to transform healthcare practice.
Startup Book Club: Lessons from the Authors Behind the Manuals
Two acclaimed authors of practical “how-to” guides for entrepreneurs take the stage for an interactive Startup Book Club session. They’ll share the stories behind their books, their most important lessons for early-stage founders, and the mistakes they see startups repeat again and again. Expect a candid, hands-on conversation about strategy, resilience, growth and the realities of building something from scratch—plus plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Business Generator Groningen
Money Mapping Lab
Not sure if you’re ready for seed, angel, VC, or just a really generous uncle? In this lab, we put your startup through a Funding Scan, a no-BS health check of your business model, traction, and readiness to raise. Founders will get direct feedback on where they stand, what type of funding makes sense, and what gaps to fix before approaching investors. Think of it as an X-ray of your funding story: we’ll highlight the strong bones, expose the fractures, and tell you what to fix before you step onto the pitch stage. Founders will get direct feedback on where they stand, what type of funding makes sense, and what gaps to fix before approaching investors. Think of it as an X-ray of your funding story: we’ll highlight the strong bones, expose the fractures, and tell you what to fix before you step onto the pitch stage.
Meet the Startups: Quick Pitches, Big Ideas
Triade, RUG Ventures, NV NOM and IFG have joined forces through Future Tech Ventures to help early stage, high tech startups in the Northern Netherlands with accessible funding and related services and networks, towards societal and economic impact. During MXT, the best of these will present themselves to the audience.