Photo: René Clement
by Josephine Meijer
Marketing and communications, StartupAmsterdam
@StartupAmsterdam
During the Amsterdam2NYC cultural startup bootcamp this week, 13 Dutch startups are participating in an intensive program in New York City to prepare to scale to the US market.
The companies FRAEMd, Guide ID, No Dutch No Glory, VR Days, Avant Arte, Tiqets, Novel Creative Consultancy, Izi.Travel, Picturae, Sens.us, VRBASE, Arttenders, and We Are Public were selected based on their potential for international expansion and innovation of the cultural sector.
Some of the companies are successful in other countries, while others have just started in the Netherlands. All of companies, however, have a proven product-market fit with a client base of renowned (Dutch) cultural institutions. The Amsterdam2NYC bootcamp will introduce the participants to influential US-based cultural institutions to explore partnerships and deals.
Three days of networking and workshops
The startup bootcamp kicks off with a soft-landing session with advice on legal, accounting and HR practices in the US. Day one then continues with a PR workshop, a meet & greet with startup mentors who have made the move from the Netherlands to the US, and a pitch training with feedback from Shawn Cheng of Vayner Media and Noah Harlan of Two Bulls.
The bootcamp runs alongside a cultural mission organized by the City of Amsterdam, led by Deputy Mayor Kajsa Ollongren, also known as the startup mayor. It is the first ever international trade mission on arts and culture between Amsterdam and New York, and will promote and celebrate the cultural and economic relationships between the two cities.
Also on the program are a business development workshop, speed networking with big shots from the NYC cultural industry, and a reception at the Consulate General of the Netherlands with other participants in the cultural mission, a panel discussion on the convergence of culture, technology and innovation, and a Paradiso Labs session on innovation in the global music industry.
Amsterdam and New York Memorandum of Understanding
The cultural bootcamp is organized by StartupAmsterdam and the Consulate General of the Netherlands in NYC, in partnership with The Made in NY Media Center by IFP and The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
In June 2015, deputy mayors of New York and Amsterdam, Alicia Glen and Kajsa Ollongren, agreed to work together on stimulating the development of tech startups. Since then, StartupAmsterdam and its New York partners have organized several in- and outbound bootcamps to boost the relations between Amsterdam and New York.
The startups in the bootcamp
FRAEMd makes high quality art in the lower price range more accessible for the inexperienced art buyer. On the online platform, potential art buyers can develop their taste, view the artworks in their own space, and buy it in just one click. FRAEMd works with an intuitive tool that saves the user’s swiping preferences and uses intelligent algorithms to suggest even more preferable artworks to the user.
Guide ID is an innovative company that helps museums tell their story. Guide ID offers visitor guiding, analytics and marketing and became world market leader after launching the Podcatcher late 2009.
No Dutch No Glory is a startup to help people “create visual experiences that matter.” Be it video productions, VR, 3D motion graphics or photography, No Dutch No Glory combines creative design, production and post-production with the latest technology.
VR Days Europe is a four-day event in Amsterdam showcasing the latest VR trends and hardware, inspiring keynotes, content creation and all kinds of demos to experience.
Avante Arte developed an app with the mission to make art accessible to anyone in the world, to connect people with art and the artists they love and to empower artists and creatives. The app lets you swipe, discover, like, buy and sell art, as well as connect and chat to art lovers and artists.
Tiqets is an innovative ticketing platform that revolutionizes the way visitors discover, buy and use tickets for museums, shows and attractions. With instant and mobile tickets, the company provides travelers with hassle-free last-minute entrance without printing.
Novel Creative Consultancy has a unique network approach that harnesses cultural intelligence to create innovative strategies, concepts and campaigns for clients such as the Dutch National Opera and European League of Institutes of the Arts.
izi.Travel is a global, open and free platform to experience cities and museums world-wide. The indoor and outdoor tours are collected in an online platform that is available through a (mobile)webpage and mobile application supported by iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Picturae is a highly innovative service provider within the cultural heritage world. It offers museums, archives and libraries a complete solution for making their collections available to the public. Services include anything from concept development, and the definition of a business case, to the digitization, storage and hosting, management and enrichment of collections.
Sens.us bridges the gap between online content and offline context. AppSpots, a visitor engagement platform, combines the features and benefits of a mobile app with the convenience and accessibility of a WiFi hotspot. AppSpots enables brands to leverage an increasing demand for WiFi access to offer visitors an engaging location-specific mobile experience without installing any apps.
VRBASE will be Europe’s main hub for VR and AR with its main location at Marineterrein in Amsterdam and satellite locations in Paris and Berlin. VRBASE soft launched July 1 and will formally launch on October 1.
Arttenders connects art with business through initiating and realizing commissioned art projects in, for example, real estate and urban development, and by facilitating strategic partnerships between cultural organizations and companies.
We Are Public is a cultural membership that selects the best concerts, movies, theater pieces, dance performances, and exhibitions in the city. Members have unlimited access to these events for a fixed price of €15 per month.
