The Dutch space sector recently welcomed a delegation from India on an “Innovation Mission on Space Technologies.” Organised by the Netherlands Innovation Network India, the Netherlands Space Office (NSO), the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and SpaceNed, the 4-day tour of the country’s vibrant space ecosystem focused on creating new contacts and building relationships between the Dutch and Indian space sectors. Delegates visited numerous stakeholders in the region with a full day at NL Space Campus, discovering the facilities at ESA/ESTEC and visiting SBIC Noordwijk to meet with space startups – both ESA BIC incubatees/alumni and SpaceNed members – and find out about relocating to NL via the Soft Landing programme.
Following the warm welcome from the director of NSO Harm van de Wetering in The Hague, the mission visited institutions and organisations in numerous locations with an inspiring agenda of B2B meetings and knowledge sessions on space business, innovation, commercial activities and legal perspectives. At SBIC Noordwijk, delegates had one-on-one sessions with space tech entrepreneurs and opportunities for future collaborations were facilitated. An introduction by Martijn Leinweber, SBIC COO and programme manager of ESA Business Incubation Centre Noordwijk, focused on the Soft Landing programme.
Landing in the Dutch space ecosystem
Such a cross-country innovation mission is an ideal opportunity to highlight to entities seeking an entry into the Dutch space industry landscape exactly how SBIC can help with that. There could be various reasons why a company or entrepreneur wishes to relocate to the Netherlands. One key reason for moving might be to join the Dutch business incubation centre of the European Space Agency (ESA BIC Noordwijk) and join the largest incubation network in Europe at the flagship location – i.e. the first ever ESA BIC with 20 years of operation – which is a stone’s throw away from ESA’s main research and development site at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). Another reason to join the Soft Landing programme could be to expand your company, acting as a gateway to Europe through your new Dutch location, or you simply wish to establish your new startup here. Whatever your impetus, SBIC is here to help with a smooth transition into the Netherlands.
The Soft Landing programme, established by SBIC Noordwijk in 2021, has been gaining momentum in attracting new companies to the region ever since, which in turn contributes to the development of the space business network of the Netherlands.
SBIC is ideally situated to manage this initiative, with its expertise in the Dutch innovation ecosystem, and the very first company that successfully graduated from the programme – Blue Sky Analytics – provided inspiration to the delegates. Co-founder and CTO Kshitij Purwar explained the benefits of opening an office in the Netherlands and shared details about the startup’s journey.
Space tech startups in the spotlight
Next, there was the chance to be inspired by a varied selection of the Dutch and Indian startups pitching their innovations, with opportunity afterwards for B2B matchmaking and networking. It turned out that a number of the startups were already familiar with numerous contacts in the delegation and within no time at all many other new connections were established. The ESA BIC incubatees (Agtuall, Ceres Space, Turtle Island Space) and ESA BIC alumni (Arceon, HDES, Lens R&D) were also joined by members of SpaceNed (including AAC Clyde Space, Bradford, Caeli, NEO, T-Minus) and many fruitful discussions with the Indian delegates ensued.
European startups expanding into the Indian market
Finally, ESA’s Ritesh Jain (pictured below) was on hand to announce a groundbreaking initiative that also has the goal of forging powerful partnerships and encouraging innovation within the space industry. The new competition, organised by the ESA Commercialisation Gateway, seeks to create connections between Europe and India (see filler box).
EU–India Space Startup Competition: On the occasion of the 20 year celebration of the network of ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), a new competition has been launched that looks to expand the reach of European space startups and scale-ups globally. It seeks to identify the most promising European space startups with potential business cases for the Indian market or seeking cooperation/collaborative projects with Indian partners. This is a call for European space startups to seize the opportunity for a chance to step into the Indian market and connect with influential collaborators. Deadline: 17 June 2024. More details
The ESA business incubation programme is welcoming new space business ideas!
Register for the info sessions via the ESA BIC section:
