Spring Edition Venture Challenge Starts in the Summer

Six innovative teams were selected this spring to participate in the Venture Challenge, a coaching programme for start-ups in the Life Sciences & Health that is being organised for the first time under the auspices of NWO. Due to the corona measures, the spring edition will start later than planned, namely in July.

The awarded teams are on their way to the market with their innovative product or service. During the Venture Challenge, they receive professional guidance from experienced coaches Math Kohnen and Chretien Herben from the GameChanger Challenge agency, which came out of the tender procedure at NWO as the winning party. The selected teams develop their ideas into a solid business case through an intensive coaching process of approximately ten weeks, including two three-day boot camps and weekly coaching sessions.

Pitching for the jury

Following this process, the teams meet representatives of all relevant early life sciences investors. Through the collaboration with Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland), they will have the opportunity to pitch their idea to the Venture Challenge jury, consisting of experienced entrepreneurs and investors, in one minute. They then decide who will take home the prize money of 25,000 euros to further develop the innovation.

Measures COVID-19: spring round starts in the summer

In the past eleven years, Health~Holland has organised two rounds of the Venture Challenge every year. The upcoming (spring) round of the Venture Challenge is the first under the responsibility of NWO. Due to the current measures around COVID-19, this round will take place in the summer and the start has been postponed to July. The parties involved are in consultation with each other to see how and when the programme can be implemented. Due to this shift, one of the six originally selected teams cannot participate immediately in July; an appropriate solution is arranged in consultation.

Registration for the fall round

Registration for the fall round of the Venture Challenge will open in early June. Interested life sciences teams can register via the NWO website. We will also soon announce the timetable for the coaching process via the NWO website.

Spring Edition Venture Challenge Starts in the Summer

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