But, for the same price as a tiny apartment in the outskirts of Amsterdam, you could easily find a nice accommodation in the heart of Groningen. “Here, the people who are active in the tech scene are so visible, that makes it very easy to create a company or an initiative with those people because they’re very accessible… For example, last year my group Women Devs connected with another group in the city, Lean In Groningen, and together we organized a web conference on International Women’s Day to share more knowledge with the women of Groningen about tech and other topics.”Īrne Bos, Managing Director at Parkos, a booking platform for airport parking, added that many of his friends who have moved to Amsterdam and the Randstad area face the challenge of finding affordable housing. She went on to found the Women Devs group, a community dedicated to women developers working or studying in tech. For example, when she moved to Groningen from Greece, Tsoutsouri was surprised to find that the gender gap in IT students was worse in the Netherlands than in her home country. Tsoutsouri says that Groningen’s size makes it easier for new startups, initiatives, and groups to take off. Stella Tsoutsouri, a mobile developer at telecommunications startup Voys, says because the city’s ecosystem is small, it allows easier access for people to network and make meaningful professional connections: “There are plenty of meetups, conferences (one of the biggest Python conferences is in Groningen), there is a new library/cultural center that holds tech talks, the University has plenty of initiatives like venture lectures and conferences, so there’s a lot of great things happening.” “There’s been a load of new startup companies… there’s a vibrant and growing biotech community with an exciting future and limitless possibilities,” she says.Īnd while it may seem like a drawback, one benefit that sets a startup ecosystem like Groningen apart from larger cities like Amsterdam is its small size. Margarita Bernal-Cabas, Operations Resource Manager at EV Biotech Margarita Bernal-Cabas, Operations Resource Manager at EV Biotech, a company that develops microbial cell factories for industrial production, tells TNW that Groningen is an exciting place to be for its emerging biotech sector, which is churning out innovative companies thanks to its proximity to universities and wealth of local professors, research, and sector meetups. The province of Groningen has just had its second consecutive year as the fastest-growing region in the Netherlands in terms of job growth, with around 1.2k local jobs being created by local startups. Groningen may not be big, but it’s quickly becoming recognized for its startup scene. This plethora of young, international talent, ground breaking research, and the presence of corporate powerhouses like IBM and Google, make Groningen’s tech scene one to watch.įor international talent looking to launch their tech career abroad, Groningen may be the answer. Known as the country’s “capital of the north,” Groningen is a thousand-year-old city with a thriving student population thanks to its universities. While many people think of Amsterdam as the country’s startup capital and a global tech powerhouse - and with success stories like Adyen, MessageBird and Mollie, they’re not wrong - the Netherlands’ lesser-known cities are becoming favorites amongst expats who want to be part of the country’s dynamic tech scene, without the hustle of big city life. The country attracted €1.8bn in investment in 2021 alone, more than double the €790m raised in 2020. It’s no secret that the Netherlands is a European leader when it comes to the tech and startup sectors.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |