Apr 9, 2024

Read this article in: Having been steadily making waves in the world of startups, Amsterdam is ranked third in Europe’s top startup ecosystem after London and Berlin in 2023. Home to approximately 4,000 startups employing 196,000 people, the city has witnessed a surge in funding in recent years. For instance, in the first half of 2022 alone, venture capitalists invested €2.8B into startups based in the city. Additionally, with 90 per cent of VC funding flowing into Amsterdam originating from foreign investors, Amsterdam’s startup ecosystem raised an impressive $17B (€15.6B) in VC funding from 2018 to 2022. The research firm StartupGenome even revealed that Amsterdam-based startups are “a magnet” for VC funding, having seen many standout startups contributing to Amsterdam’s entrepreneurial scene. Therefore, today, we bring you a list of Amsterdam-based startups that secured funding this March, with some of them currently hiring: Mews Funding: $342.2M (€315.4M) Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here Mews , a cloud-based property management system (PMS) founded by ex-hotelier Richard Valtr in 2012, was created from his firsthand experience managing a hotel in Prague. Valtr recognised the industry’s reliance on outdated technology and sought to modernise its operations. Currently, under the leadership of CEO Matthijs Welle, Mews integrates seamlessly with various tech solutions and serves over 5,000 global clients, managing more than 350,000 hospitality spaces. On March 4, the company announced securing $110M (€101.39M) in funding led by Kinnevik, with participation from Revaia, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Notion Capital, and LGVP. This funding round launches Mews to unicorn status, valuing the company at $1.2B (€1.1B). The capital will fund Mews’ global expansion efforts, facilitate research and development initiatives, and enable acquisitions. Orq.ai Hiring: No Founded in 2022, Orq.ai operates as a Generative AI platform for enterprises, providing integration with large language models (LLMs) and fostering collaboration across organisations. Following a successful pre-seed round in 2023, Orq.ai introduced two new products: Experiment and Optimize. Experiment streamlines the testing of thousands of Generative AI use cases, prompts, and data sets, while Optimize provides real-time analytics on AI model interactions to enable continuous improvements and fine-tuning by domain experts. On March 11, Orq.ai announced securing an additional €1.5M in growth funding led by XO Ventures and xdeck ventures, with participation from existing investors Curiosity VC and Spacetime from Adriaan Mol. This funding will primarily support the company in expanding its product and go-to-market teams, with an additional focus on the European market. Ellogon Hiring: No Ellogon , based in Amsterdam, specialises in personalising immunotherapy using data and algorithms. Its solution, EIDOSTM, is a CE-IVDD-certified platform that leverages AI to identify suitable candidates for modern cancer treatment. Stemming from a strategic collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in 2020, EIDOSTM is known for its effectiveness in integrating into clinical practice, therefore advancing cancer treatments accessible to patients. Ellogon announced on March 12 that it secured €1M in funding from ROM InWest and UvA Ventures Holding, which will fund Ellogon’s expansion efforts. The company will focus on integrating EIDOSTM into established cancer immunotherapy methods to ensure more precise and affordable healthcare. Vini Mini Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here Vini Mini , headquartered in Amsterdam, specialises in preventive child healthcare by offering nutritional products and supplements designed to reduce food allergies in infants. Founded in 2020 by experienced entrepreneurs Jozien Boersma and Laurie Lancee, Vini Mini aims to address the growing concern of childhood food allergies by developing safe nutritional solutions for babies. With a seed funding round of €500,000 announced on March 8, Vini Mini plans to expand its market reach as well as strengthen its sales and marketing teams. Participants of the round include Antler, Donor Impact Invest Fund, Irene Groenink of Vrederijk Investments, and angel investors from The Angel Initiative. TheyDo Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here . TheyDo , founded in 2019, functions as a journey management platform for businesses by facilitating immediate action based on insights derived from the mapping process. In 2023, the company said that they have perfected additional features for its platform, which is used by clients including Atlassian, Cisco, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, T-Mobile and Qualtrics. TheyDo now has a global team of 70 employees. As announced on March 14, the company obtained fresh funding worth $34M (€31M) . TheyDo said the fund would assist in accelerating product development, increasing AI capabilities, and expanding into the US market. The round was led by Blossom Capital, with participation from Arches Capital, Innovation Quarter, Steven van Belleghem, Highsage Ventures, and 20Sales. D2X Founded in: 2020 Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here . D2X is a crypto derivatives exchange catering to institutional investors which aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem. After becoming the first company to obtain a MiFID MTF license from the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM), D2X is set to launch the first regulated crypto futures & options trading venue in the European Union. With a mission to help financial institutions safely enter the crypto derivatives market, D2X’s initial product listing will feature cash-settled EUR-denominated BTC and ETH derivatives. On March 14, D2X announced a Series A funding round of $10M (€9.1M) led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from GSR Markets and existing investors. 1-2-Taste Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here . Online B2B platform 1-2-Taste was founded in 2018 to help food and beverage companies source supplies. The platform provides a variety of ingredients, including flavours, colours, fibres, texturizers, proteins, and more for all stages of food development. The 1-2-Taste platform serves 15,000 customers weekly and handles more than 100 supply leaders in the industry. With the mission to make ingredient orders simple, according to CEO Jasper Schoute, the company already started to integrate gen AI features into its platform. 1-2-Taste announced on March 13 that it has secured an undisclosed amount of seed investment led by Icos Capital. The round was supported by sustainable transition firm Navus Ventures. The company said that the funds will be used to expand its operations, diversify its offerings, as well as improve its technology. Finch Buildings Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here . Modular buildings company Finch Buildings , based in Amsterdam, constructs cabins, studios, and buildings using solid wood and eco-friendly materials. Currently, the construction sector is responsible for almost 40 per cent of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands. With its CO2-positive technology, Finch Buildings has stored and saved more than 25,000 tonnes of CO2 to date. Finch Buildings announced on March 19 that it had received an undisclosed amount of investment from the Amsterdam Climate & Energy Fund (AKEF). AKEF, which is managed by e3 Partners, has invested €80M in 34 projects in energy transition and circularity. The investment is made to accelerate Finch Building’s growth to help solve both the climate crisis and the housing shortage in the Netherlands. CEO Jurrian Knijtijzer said that AKEF’s support will help Finch Buildings make sustainable living more accessible. Rapid Photonics Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here . Rapid Photonics , a Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam spin-off, solves the problem in Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) production through its patented technology. According to co-founder Steven Tan, it has been impossible to produce photonic chips in lithium niobate on an industrial scale despite years of research. Now, with a technology called DEpicT (Direct Etch-less photonic integrated circuits Technology), Rapid Photonics has changed the status quo. The company announced in March that it secured a convertible loan of €300,000 from the North Holland Innovation Fund. This will enable the company to further develop its technology to ensure that it will be ready for the telecom market.