This September has been nothing short of exciting for five of our Clyntech startups, who packed their energy, curiosity and ambition and headed to the Netherlands to spend a week immersed in the Dutch startup ecosystem.
Savvy Element, Airguard, My Smart Wardrobe, GoPark and Argentum joined YES!Delft for five days of workshops, ecosystem visits, expert exchanges and pitching, gaining new perspectives and connections alongside greater exposure to the wider European market.
From customer value and pricing to intellectual property and investment readiness, each day brought a different area of their businesses into focus.
Their week in Delft brought plenty to explore, question and take back home. We’re sharing some of those insights, with a few worth adding to your own founder toolkit, too:
Day 1: Putting the Business in Front of a New Audience
The week started at YES!Delft, with an introduction to the accelerator, its facilities and the ecosystem surrounding its startup community, including how founders, experts, mentors and other ecosystem players interact within it.
The five startups then took the floor to present their businesses, solutions and value propositions to the YES!Delft team. The pitches were followed by a Q&A session, opening the conversation around different aspects of their business models and giving the founders direct feedback from the team.
It set the tone for a week that would repeatedly bring different parts of the business into focus.
One thing to take away: Pitching is not only about presenting the business. The questions that follow can be just as useful, opening different parts of the business model to questions, feedback and new perspectives.
Day 2: Looking Beyond the Price Tag
The second day focused on pricing, with a workshop led by David Beijer exploring customer value, willingness to pay, market positioning and different pricing models.
One of the key ideas was to look beyond pricing as a purely financial decision.
The price of a product or service is connected to the value proposition, the customers being targeted, the competitive environment and the wider business model. Looking at these elements together gave the startups an opportunity to reflect on their current pricing approaches and identify areas that could be tested or refined.
One thing to take away: A pricing decision raises more than the question of how much. It also means understanding the value customers see in the solution, what they are willing to pay, how the business is positioned and which pricing model is appropriate.
Day 3: From Customer Value to Circular Collaboration
The third day started by taking a closer look at value proposition development.
The founders worked through their customer segments, the problems they address and the specific value their solutions create, focusing on the alignment between customer needs and what the business is offering.
It brought the conversation back to three closely connected elements: the customer, the problem and the value created.
Later that day, the group travelled to Rotterdam for a visit to BlueCity, an innovation hub focused on the circular economy.
The visit offered a different perspective on how an innovation ecosystem can operate. The founders were introduced to BlueCity’s ecosystem of innovators and its approach to circular entrepreneurship, including how it brings startups, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders together and how collaboration and resource exchange can contribute to new business opportunities.
Back in The Hague, the day ended with an informal meetup with Wassim Beaineh, opening further conversations around entrepreneurship, the Dutch ecosystem and the experiences of Lebanese founders and professionals working internationally.
One thing to take away: A strong value proposition depends on understanding the customer and the problem being addressed. But the BlueCity visit also showed another side of business development: the wider ecosystem, and the collaborations formed within it, can open up different possibilities for a business.
Day 4: Bringing IP Into the Growth Conversation
As the week progressed, the focus shifted to another consideration for growing companies: intellectual property.
During a workshop with Michiel van Stapele, Intellectual Property Advisor at the Netherlands Patent Office, the startups explored key considerations around protecting and managing intellectual property.
The session brought IP into the wider conversation around scaling, giving the founders an opportunity to consider how the knowledge and intellectual assets behind their businesses are managed and protected as the companies develop.
One thing to take away: Protecting and managing IP is part of preparing a business for growth. As startups think about scaling, understanding the intellectual assets behind the business and how they are protected becomes part of that process.
Day 5: Investment Readiness Starts Before the Pitch
The final day turned to investment readiness with a workshop delivered by the BPX team.
Rather than approaching readiness through the pitch deck alone, the session looked at the full package behind an investment conversation: the business model and strategy, financials and projections, fundraising strategy, pitch deck and investment story, and the readiness of the founders and team.
It also brought several practical questions into focus: How much funding does the business need? What will it be used for? Which investors should it approach? And what are the implications of bringing external investment into the company?
The discussion then expanded beyond investment to other forms of financing, introducing the startups to subsidies, grants and funding schemes available in the Netherlands for innovative companies. Alongside the opportunities came the practical side of accessing them: eligibility requirements, application procedures and administrative processes all need to be understood and planned for.
One thing to take away: Investment readiness is not defined by a pitch deck alone. It requires the business, financials, fundraising strategy, investment story and team to be ready together, as well as clarity on why funding is needed and which source of funding makes sense.
Bringing It Back to the Pitch
The week ended with the five startups delivering three-minute pitches to representatives from Berytech, YES!Delft and invited stakeholders from the Dutch ecosystem, followed by questions and feedback. The session was also attended by H.E. Mr. Walid Minkara, Ambassador of Lebanon to the Netherlands, who delivered brief opening remarks and later joined the networking with the YES!Delft community.
In many ways, it brought the week full circle.
The startups had begun the immersion by presenting their businesses. In between the first and final pitches came five days of looking more closely at the pieces behind them: the customer and value proposition, pricing, intellectual property, funding and investment readiness, alongside exposure to new people, perspectives and practices within the Dutch ecosystem.
For Savvy Element, Airguard, My Smart Wardrobe, GoPark and Argentum, the immersion offered more than exposure to a new market and ecosystem. Between the workshops, one-on-one support, curated meetings with relevant ecosystem players and conversations throughout the week, the startups had the opportunity to examine different parts of their businesses, gather new perspectives and build connections relevant to their individual growth journeys and expansion plans.
And for founders following their journey from Lebanon, the week offers a useful look at some of the questions that sit behind growth: Is the value proposition aligned with what customers need? Does the pricing reflect that value? Is the business thinking about how its intellectual property is managed? And, when funding enters the conversation, is the company ready beyond the pitch?
