These take a look at areas shall be held at festivals all through the Amsterdam area, comparable to Mysteryland. 

To study extra concerning the programme and its affect, Silicon Canals reached out to Linda Vermaat, Director of Innofest Nederland. 

She shared insights into the confirmed efficient methodology utilized by Innofest, which has helped over 70 per cent of alumni considerably enhance their entrepreneurial abilities, determine new buyer segments, and obtain market success. 

Organising the take a look at case 

Entrepreneurs typically make the error of launching their services or products with out correct testing. 

Sadly, this could result in a gradual loss of life of their innovation resulting from it not becoming the market appropriately.

Innofest addresses this difficulty by providing entrepreneurs the chance to check their improvements at festivals that function real-life take a look at areas. 

Explaining it, Linda says “These festivals perform as real-life take a look at areas as a result of they’re as near actuality as potential and really appropriate for validating assumptions. This fashion, entrepreneurs retrieve essential knowledge, whether or not they’re a startup, scale-up, or data establishment.” 

She continues, “This permits them to enhance the product the place obligatory and acquire proof that’s necessary to persuade potential traders or launching prospects. That is how Innofest helps entrepreneurs efficiently step into the market.”

Entrepreneurs, Innofest workforce, and producer

Innofest’s programme helps entrepreneurs all through the testing course of with their methodology and producer. 

Upon choice, all scouted improvements take part in a workshop to achieve a deeper understanding of how you can design and execute their take a look at. 

“Innofest has intensive expertise in giving these workshops, each on-line and offline,” provides Linda. 

After this workshop, a jury will choose 4 startups and/or scale-ups to check their services or products at a pageant with Innofest. 

Through the two on-line workshops that observe, chosen entrepreneurs are ready for the pageant take a look at case, whereas Innofest’s producer supervises and ensures that the take a look at is efficient and possible. 

“That is achieved in shut cooperation with the take a look at skilled (is the take a look at efficient?), the take a look at location (can we execute it and the way?), and the participant (is the prototype prepared?). An out-of-pocket funds is offered for every innovation, together with transportation and manufacturing prices on website,” she shares. 

“For the contributors, the ultimate take a look at case at a pageant is primarily targeted on gathering suggestions and proof on how the prototype works. The chosen entrepreneurs for this mission take a look at at Mysteryland, an digital music pageant in August.”

Through the pageant, the producer is the principle contact for the entrepreneur and is current always. Moreover, an innovation skilled coaches the entrepreneurs on-site and challenges them to realize the utmost end result. 

Relying on the precise take a look at, testing in a residing lab can span a number of days with day by day check-ins scheduled for the entrepreneurs to study collectively. 

“After the pageant, we organise the final workshop, wherein we observe the info and discover methods to make use of this knowledge to enhance the examined prototype,” she provides. 

Validating by way of the “Check Just like the Greatest” methodology

Innofest’s “Check Just like the Greatest” methodology is a sensible and efficient technique to validate a prototype, no matter its complexity, says Linda to Silicon Canals.  

The strategy consists of three canvases, 25 take a look at playing cards, and a 40-page white paper in each Dutch and English. 

The innovation consultants at Innofest information startups by way of 4 workshops utilizing this methodology, offering them with sensible instruments to make the take a look at related and possible. 

“We do that by addressing key assumptions and organising the take a look at query and take a look at design. Within the closing workshop we analyse the collected knowledge and contributors conclude their follow-up, additional improvement, or to the market,” says Linda. 

As an example, Innofest has helped to validate the difficult know-how utilized by Semilla Sanitation Hub, which supplies clear ingesting water, meals, and sanitary services utilizing house journey know-how developed by the European House Company. 

The Semilla Sanitation Hub performed testing of its urine filtration methodology on the 2018 Eurosonic Noorderslag pageant, and later ran a wastewater filtration take a look at on the DGTL music pageant, in the end finishing the testing course of at Eurosonic Noorderslag 2019 by filtering blackwater.

Innofest performed an important position in these testing processes, which helped Semilla Sanitation to develop plans with Care Kenya to roll out the filtration know-how in Kenya. 

The testing additionally opened up new market alternatives for Semilla Sanitation, as numerous festivals expressed curiosity in making their sanitary services extra sustainable. 

Moreover, Semilla Sanitation’s CEO, Peter Scheer, arrange a water-saving mission in partnership with the organisers of the Zwarte Cross pageant, reusing bathe wastewater to flush bogs.

Past testing and validation

In keeping with Linda, the Innofest workforce gives a variety of assets and assist to entrepreneurs, past testing and validation. 

“In cooperation with our companions, we organise innovation excursions on the festivals the place the assessments happen. Right here we present related stakeholders comparable to traders and potential prospects what improvements and challenges we’re working with. On this approach we prolong the attain of this system and join the regional ecosystem,” she says to Silicon Canals.

The workforce additionally units up a PR and communication technique for each pageant, together with a media equipment with content material that’s shared with companions and the pageant. 

“We repeatedly put up content material on our communication channels and people of our companions, comparable to footage, movies, information objects, and tales. On the festivals, we take footage and make quick video studies of the assessments (if multi-day pageant). This helps startups to excite potential companions and co-funders about their services or products,” she states. 

Innofest’s skilled PR workforce frequently reaches nationwide, regional, and commerce media, and has engaged within the social debate on innovation. 

By these efforts, they’ve secured over 250 articles about Innofest and the taking part startups, claims Linda. 

Innofest’s success story

Innofest has helped 260 entrepreneurs by facilitating sensible assessments utilizing their confirmed efficient methodology since 2016, shares Linda. 

The analysis performed by the College of Groningen between 2017-2020 exhibits that over 70 per cent of Innofest’s alumni have considerably improved their entrepreneurial abilities and 80 per cent had been capable of determine new buyer segments or prospects due to Innofest. 

Innofest’s strategy can be recognised at a European degree because it gained the European Innovation Award EEPA in 2017. 

“Innofest’s work is rated extremely by our alumni. The bottom ranking is a 7 and most entrepreneurs give Innofest an 8 or 9, with 10 being the best,” she claims.  

Linda additionally provides the vast majority of entrepreneurs say a convincing sure when requested whether or not the supposed outcomes had been achieved.

Jesse, founding father of tech startup FestiVR says, “It was a take a look at in two areas: a technical stress take a look at for the tools and a gauge curiosity amongst customers. The outcomes of the stress take a look at had been a harsh lesson. The tools overheated rapidly and picture high quality suffered. Nevertheless, the responses from the varied audiences had been tremendously constructive and supplied necessary insights.”

David, founding father of well being startup Arna App says, “We had been primarily targeted on creating new options of the app. Throughout testing, we discovered that the method customers undergo is a minimum of as necessary. We have to begin providing extra assist in that.”

Nina, founder Inexperienced Facades says, “The take a look at at Royal Park Stay was the deciding issue for us in selecting the ultimate materials of our product. I don’t suppose earlier than this take a look at we thought it was potential to already make our first sale. Innofest actually confirmed us what we’re able to.”

Standards

To use, startups should meet the next circumstances  

• Have an modern prototype
• Ought to exhibit the added worth of testing at a pageant 
• Have a viable enterprise case sooner or later 
• Contribute to a greater world sooner or later 

Innofest is on the lookout for entrepreneurs from startups, spin-offs, or pupil tasks who’re creating improvements associated to:

• Sustainable mobility 
• Round materials flows 
• Vitality, 
• (Digital) safety 
• Meals 
• Inclusiveness

To encourage range and inclusiveness, the programme welcomes and invitations everybody who identifies with these values, together with girls and minorities.

Startups and scale-ups seeking to take part in Innofest’s mission can apply till the seventh of June by clicking right here. Innofest encourages feminine and inclusive entrepreneurship, so we explicitly invite anybody who recognises themselves on this.

Innofest’s roadmap

Wanting in the direction of the long run, Innofest has outlined its plans for the interval 2023-2027, with a concentrate on persevering with to drive the inexperienced and social transition. 

Step one shall be scouting for improvements with the potential to make a constructive affect on these transitions. 

As soon as recognized, Innofest will information these improvements by way of testing at festivals and residing labs, to assemble proof and enhance their product. 

Collaboration with related events within the innovation ecosystem shall be key to making sure that improvements are prepared to maneuver ahead after sensible testing, she says. 

Moreover, Innofest will organise workshops, lectures, and innovation excursions to create assist and enthusiasm for the talked about transitions and the significance of innovation in realising them.”

“Change doesn’t occur in a single day, but it surely does occur by engaged on it collectively, day in and day trip. That’s why we hope to proceed to work with nice companions comparable to StartupAmsterdam and the Metropolis of Amsterdam’s City Innovation Group to realize the above,” concludes Linda. 

Startups and scale-ups seeking to take part in Innofest’s mission can apply till the seventh of June by clicking right here.