Regional development agency InnovationQuarter and Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, launched the “BOSteRDAM” cleantech link during a Netherlands offshore wind delegation visit to Greentown Labs on October 18. BOSteRDAM is a two-week market expansion program which facilitates a soft-landing location for Dutch entrepreneurs with an interest in the Greater Boston Area, and for American cleantech entrepreneurs with the ambition to do business in the Netherlands.
The offshore wind delegation took a tour of Greentown Labs and spent time with Josh Groleau of Pecos Wind Power and Ravi Paintal of Autonomous Marine Systems. Given the two companies’ areas of expertise and the wind markets they’re pursuing, the delegation enjoyed spending time with the entrepreneurs at Greentown Labs!
The delegation also heard from Professor Eric Hines of Tufts University, who talked about the general Massachusetts offshore wind ecosystem and the leadership of academia in the rising industry.
Greentown Labs invited Saitec, a startup from Spain working on floating offshore wind in Massachusetts, to present about their work and how they’ve entered the New England market.
Finally, Greentown Labs’ Executive Vice President Mark Vasu, and InnovationQuarter’s Senior Account Manager, Loek Becker Hoff, presented the BOSteRDAM program to the delegation and members of the Greentown community.
Loek met with several member companies at Greentown Labs and the rest of the delegation continued on to the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. Palmos and Root AI, both Greentown Labs member companies, visited the Netherlands over the summer and were able to reconnect with Loek. OffGridBox and Next Rung Technology spent time discussing their European expansion strategies with Loek.
Dr. Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, shares “Greentown Labs is eager to welcome startups from the Netherlands to our cleantech community. We’re excited to provide them with the resources and network they need to expand their operations in the United States and we see great synergies between our ecosystem and InnovationQuarter. Some of our entrepreneurs have already taken advantage of the wide array of resources and connections InnovationQuarter has, and we’re exited to see many more utilize the BOSteRDAM cleantech link!”
Rinke Zonneveld, Director of InnovationQuarter is very happy with the program, “The greater Rotterdam area houses amongst others the largest port of Europe, one of the best tech incubators in Europe, the first CIC operations overseas and loads of opportunities in the field of energy transition, circular economy and high-tech solutions for a sustainable future. More over The Netherlands is the ideal stepping stone for American entrepreneurs who want to do business in Europe. We are ready to welcome”.
The launch of the BOSteRDAM follows the MoU Greentown Labs and InnovationQuarter signed in November 2017. Through the BOSteRDAM Cleantech Link, both organizations will closely support entrepreneurs in gaining access to leading cleantech clusters overseas by drafting a tailor-made two-week program for each company. The program will provide startups with full immersion in the overseas ecosystem, including local market knowledge, introductions to companies, government organizations and strategic partners, networking opportunities and a temporary office space, facilitate the realization of a successful foreign market entry strategy. BOSteRDAM is open to startups, scale-ups and corporates, and runs until July 2019.
BOSteRDAM cleantech link is supported by YES!Delft, Buccaneer, CIC, ACTION Innovation Network and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Interested in learning more?
Visit the BOSteRDAM website or contact Anne de Vries, Project Associate Internationalisation at InnovationQuarter, or Benny Kim, International Partnerships Fellow at Greentown Labs.
+31 6 2254 6065 / [email protected]