Up!Rotterdam Podcast Up!Rotterdam

Koen is the co-founder and CEO of Solarduck, the Dutch leader in offshore floating solar. He started his career as a management consultant, before he joined Damen Shipyards, where he was the Director Strategy and Business Transformation. 
Koen is a member of The Economic Development Board of the Drecht Cities. And although his home is in Nijmegen, his office is… in… Rotterdam!

In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
Offshore floating solar;Starting a business in your forties;How to prevent rookie mistakes as a founder;
Links mentioned:
People: Koen Burgers, Don Hoogendoorn, Mare Straetmans, Karlijn Gerris, Luuk Visser, Jonas Skattum Svegaarden, Joerek Kohutnicki, Peter Paul van Voorst tot VoorstCompanies: SolarDuck, Damen Shipyards, Buienradar, Skoon, Blue Invest, Katapult VC, Link VC, TU Delft, TNO, Maritime Research Industry Netherlands, Deltares, RWE, Impuls Corporate Finance, Platform ZeroOther: Article: “from Tiel to Tokyo: how Koen Burgers is scaling offshore solar power with Solarduck”, Nijmeegse 4-daagseMedia: Podcast Episode 37 - Rebekah, Sunny Days van Armin van Buuren & Josh Cumbee

***Ok, we have a confession to make. Stealth Founder Rebekah does not exist. Nor does Pilar.One, the company that raised 450 million and grew the team to 500 employees in 6 months. This episode script was written by Chat GPT and read by Lisette. April fools! Enjoy Rebekahs crazy answers and the AI generated music anyway***

Rebekah is the CEO and founder of Pilar.one, a fast growing startup that creates better humans through advanced use of CRISPR, the genome editing technique. She raised over 450 million us dollars to date from unknown private investors and runs her lab facility in an undisclosed location.  
Although it seems she came out of the blue, that is because Rebekah is not her real name. She had a successful exit in a previous company and uses that alias to stay safe.


In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
The applications of CRISPR for genome editing;AI as a gamechanger for founders;How to create better humans.

Ferhat is the CEO and Co-founder of Valyuu, the circular economy marketplace to sell and buy pre-owned goods, like smartphones and macbooks. With first hand experience from T-mobile and a first venture in b2b refurbishment, he started the company in January 2021. 
Valyuu joined Techstars and in March 22 they raised a first investment with ten prominent angel investors. Valyuu has been growing rapidly, so Ferhat is currently raising to support the next stage.


In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
Building a multi sided platform in the circular economy;The value of a startup accelerator;Taking investor calls on a train station floor… ;-)
Links mentioned:
People: Ferhat Topuz, Jingwei Ren, Arvin Esterabadi, Thomas Mensink, Laurens Hamerlinck, Leonie Timmermans, Stefan van den Berg, Anna Brandt, Noor van BovenCompanies: Valyuu, 2Hearts Community, T-Mobile, Techstars, Golden Egg Check, ABN Amro, Afterpay, SwapfietsOther: Careers at Valyuu, Ferhat in an investor call at Amsterdam CSMedia: Altin Gun - Halkali Seker

Abdessamad Dari is the MD of Techgrounds Netherlands. With a background in management, sales and system admin, in 2019 he joined Techgrounds. He is Managing Director of the Rotterdam based program that reskills talent in IT. 
Katia Ramos’ career includes several administrative roles at different organizations until she found herself out of a job. She is a participant in the current program.

In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
opportunities in tech for underrepresented talenta paradigm shift for employers;first hand experience from inside the programLinks mentioned:
People: Abdessamad Dari, Katia Ramos, Ruben Nieuwenhuis, Marijn Roelof, Rory HeltzelCompanies: TechGrounds, MolenGeek, Booking.com, Rabobank, Squerist, PostNL, ITCampusMedia: Molengeek (SIfted Article), Fugees - Can’t take my eyes off of youWant to promote diversity and professionalism in your IT team? Looking for talented new IT people? Visit https://techgrounds.nl/voor-bedrijven/

Born in Iran, Parya moved to the Netherlands at the age of twelve. She has a background in systems engineering at Technical University of Delft. There, together with Joris Mollinga and Mark Evenblij she founded DuckDuck Goose - a remarkable company on a mission to detect deepfake.

DuckDuckGoose first clients included the NFI (Dutch Forensic Institute) and the Dutch House of Representatives. In 2022 the European organization IDNext awarded DuckDuckGoose won the Digital Innovation Award 2022.

In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
How to spot a deepfake;Starting a business out of University;Growing as a leader and as a team;
Links mentioned:
People: Parya Lotfi, Mark Evenblij, Hajo de Boer, Ewout Karel, John van Schagen, Leonne Dieleman, Joe Bloemendaal, Jin Han, Ian Wachters, Hans Henseler, Joris MollingaCompanies: DuckDuckGoose, TU Delft, NFI, YES!Delft, BNRMedia: Tom Cruise Deepfake, Baraye - Shervin  Other: IDNext Awards, GDPR, TU Delft Impact Contest

With a background in engineering and business, Peter Paul started his career at the acclaimed shipbuilder Damen Shipyards. In 2017, together with Daan Geldermans he founded Skoon on a mission to make clean energy accessible.
Damen Shipyards became his first investor soon the Netherlands most prominent cleantech investor Kees Koolen followed. 
Today, Skoon is scaling up at an impressive rate, growing a whopping 800% in 2022.

In this episode, we'll cover the following topics:
How do you turn crisis into an opportunity?What is it like to raise capital in cleantech?…  are dutch founders dreaming big enough?
Links mentioned:
People: Peter Paul van Voorst tot Voorst, Daan Geldermans,  Kees Koolen, Sjoerd de Jager, Arash Aazami, André KuipersCompanies: Skoon, Damen Shipyards, Workspot, Maritime Sisters, PortXchange, ChatGPTOther: Peter Pauls photography album, Coldplay - Higher Power