Entrepreneurship stories from Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a hotbed for forward-thinking international start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative SMEs. Rightfully so, because the city offers relevant, accessible networks, co-working hubs, special programs and is overall a great place to live. There are numerous success stories of entrepreneurs in Rotterdam, ranging from widely recognized figures to undiscovered talents. In this compilation, we present a diverse selection of change-makers who exemplify the city's future-focused entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each story serves as a testimonial to Rotterdam's thriving and innovative spirit.

This content series is in collaboration with Up!Rotterdam, a leading support program for scale-ups in Rotterdam. The stories shine a spotlight on entrepreneurial visionaries shaping the future of our city and who are driving innovation, future-proofing strategies, and collectively fuelling sustainable growth and our urban future.

“We hire based on your track record and what you can do, not on your diploma. Most importantly, it is about fitting into the team’s values – you need to have the drive and the competitive edge, and to want to be a part of our mission.” – Julian Jagtenberg, founder and CEO of Somnox.

The concept for Somnox originated from a personal experience. A close family member of Julian was enduring the consequences of sleep deprivation and there was a shortage of remedies accessible. So, together with his colleagues from the Robotics department at TU Delft, he embarked on the mission to create a solution, focusing particularly on a robotic-based approach, committed to minimizing the negative impact of sleep deprivation and insomnia.

“No idea is too big if you have the right team behind it“ – Tim Houter, co-founder of Hardt Hyperloop.

Hyperloop technology – the conceptual high-speed transportation system first introduced by Elon Musk – can potentially revolutionise long-distance traveling, and the potential societal, economic and environmental impact is significant. So, what is happening in Rotterdam, what is the potential of Hardt Hyperloop and what are the next steps for Hyperloop across Europe?

“The Dutch environment, certainly for us, has enabled us to grow in a much faster way with the support that we’ve been given.” – Clint Bemont founder and CEO of maxwell+spark.

maxwell&spark, with its new home in Rotterdam, focuses on accelerating the energy transition in the Netherlands. After identifying a gap in the industrial mobile lithium-ion space, this company began building and selling lithium-ion batteries. The aim is to revolutionize the heavy-duty battery power industry and reduce the global carbon footprint by replacing diesel-fueled components.

“We do organic growth really well and I believe that we can do the other one also, but we need to find the right people. What I have done over the past months is to look for that talent.” – Jarell Habets, founder and CEO of Shypple.

Shypple is a digital freight forwarding company founded in 2016, with a goal to disrupt and transform the traditional, fragmented freight forwarding industry. How do they do that? By leveraging digital solutions in an online platform that brings together various communication and management tools in one place.

“We thought about this for all of two seconds before jumping in. It was proof that we had something tangible from an investor’s point of view.” – Koen Burgers, co-founder and CEO of SolarDuck.

Rotterdam-based SolarDuck is accelerating the growth of offshore floating energy. Their groundbreaking triangular-shaped platforms enable the deployment of large-scale floating solar panels. Committed to driving the energy transition, SolarDuck is taking part in exciting and future-driven international projects.