There was a buzz of excitement in the SBIC Noordwijk building as the Spark Hub zone – also known as the Centre for Space Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation – was unveiled to the space business community audience on 12 December 2023. Here, we share some photos and links to the full reports on the ESA Commercialisation Gateway and NL Space Campus websites.
Regular visitors and space business community members will know that on the second Tuesday of the month there is more of an entrepreneurial air at SBIC than usual. This is because there is a regular meet-up of all ESA BIC Noordwijk incubatees – dubbed the Entrepreneurs Coffee session – that stimulates interactions and gives a vital space to report on progress and get peer input.
This is always followed by a community lunch, which is an opportunity to discuss and network with alumni and individuals in the SBIC hub. Such interactions with the community are a highlight for many of the startups, but don’t simply take our word for it. Thomas Kaakeh of Terraprisma comments in his recent interview: “The community is an invaluable source of experience sharing and mutual support. Every visit to the ESA BIC incubator is an enriching experience where we feel surrounded by colleagues facing similar challenges and doubts, providing real added value.”
The big reveal of the Spark Hub
This week, there was an extra event on Tuesday afternoon that all the incubatees and hub members – along with experts, partners and coaches – were invited to: the opening of the Space Hub. Niels Eldering, head of Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation in the Commercialisation Services Department of the European Space Agency, presided over the event. Martijn Leinweber (SBIC COO) invited Niels Eldering to make a speech about the Spark Hub and then to the cut the ribbon and declare the new area open!
Spark Hub will offer the ESA team a new base from where to meet the network and partners. This will also be beneficial for the entire space business community at SBIC, as it will attract new visitors and team members of ESA to spend time in the building and facilitate opportunities for creating new connections within the wider space business and entrepreneurial network.
The meeting area is kitted out with media screens, sofas and a map on the wall where locations of all the ESA BICs will be indicated. A new tradition is to be established – when anyone from the network visits, they can add their location to the map!
At the event, the importance of the Dutch space ecosystem maintaining links to the next generations of space entrepreneurs via the local educational establishments was also emphasised by Niels and the Spark Hub will play an important role. SBIC is a regular destination for pitches and presentations to inspire innovation and regularly has visits from RSM Erasmus University and CEMS (Community of European Management Schools), plus the Space for Business programme and many more. These students will be able to access the Spark Hub, as will the entrepreneurs at SBIC. It will be a place for inspirational meetings that can spark exciting collaborations and innovative ideas.
To read more about the opening of the Spark Hub, read the reports on the ESA Commercialisation Gateway website here and on the NL Space Campus site here.
Related:
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