ENSCHEDE
AUGUST 28, 2025
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You know what’s cooler than running a startup? Running a startup that makes impact. Because why stop at big when you can go even bigger? Enschede Slush’D challenges you to take your biggest, boldest dreams and make them bigger. Here, you find everything you need to reach new heights and bridge the Valley of Death. This is the place where seeds sprout and grow even bigger.
Enschede Slush'D 2024
Check out last year's edition
Speakers Enschede Slush'D
These inspirators shared their stories in 2024
Sarah Theresa Schulte
Co-Founder & CEO
As Co-founder & CEO of AllCup, Sarah purues the vision of replacing plastic coatings and thus contributing to the reduction of microplastics. With AllCup she transformed regular paper cups into edible coffee 'ice-cream' like cup that is not only sustainable but also delicious.
Vinod Subramaniam
President
Vinod Subramaniam (1967) is President of the University of Twente since 2001, and currently chairs the federation of technical universities of the Netherlands (4TU). He came to the UT in 2004 as professor of Nano biophysics, and along the way has been director of the FOM (now NWO) Institute AMOLF, and rector magnificus of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is one of the co-leads for entrepreneurship and impact for the association of Dutch Universities.
Natalia Ahmadian
VC at Earlybird-X
Natalia Ahmadian has three years of investment experience at Earlybird, specializing in venture capital and innovation. A trained business lawyer in Banking & Finance, she is pursuing a PhD at RWTH Aachen, focusing on Entrepreneurship & Innovation. As project lead for Stage Two, Natalia drives deep tech and university spin-offs, bridging academia and industry.
Machteld Roos
Vice President at University of Twente
Machteld Roos is vice-chair of the Executive Board at the University of Twente, with extensive management experience in education and research, including roles at Wageningen University and NIVEL. She began her career as a Software Account Manager at IBM Netherlands and holds a Business Economics degree from the University of Amsterdam. She also studied at Waseda University in Tokyo and completed leadership programs at Nyenrode and IMD Lausanne.
Sabine Kaiser
Director Excellence Start-up Center
With three decades of experience as a management consultant, VC, tech startup builder, and family office investor, Sabine Kaiser advances technological and social innovations in Europe. As Director of the Excellence Start-up Center RWTH, she fosters technology transfer and entrepreneurship, while as an IC advisor to Blue Future Partners, she strengthens the European VC ecosystem.
Jordy Schaufeli
Senior Investment Manager
With over ten years of M&A and investment management experience, Jordy Schaufeli is a Senior Investment Manager at Oost NL. He leverages his expertise to help startups achieve strategic growth and scale their innovations, making him a valuable partner for companies looking to make an impact.
Homeyra Abrishamkar
Advisor International Talent & Startups
Homeyra Abrishamkar works for the Netherlands Point of Entry as an advisor for International Talent & Startups. In her role she advises organizations in the Netherlands on the different work permits and the recognized sponsorship and how to hire international talent and she helps international founders on the startup visa to the Netherlands.
Christian Wiencierz
Managing Director REACH
Christian Wiencierz is head of Scouting, Coaching and Shared Services. With a PhD in communications, Christian is in charge for the strategic and operational implementation of tasks and services to establish REACH as a service and competence center in the field of innovation and spin-offs in the University of Münster.
Lea Kipper
Innovation Scout
As an innovation scout at REACH, Lea Kipper turns research projects into sustainable business ideas. With a background in sustainability and CSR, she leads the Social Entrepreneurship School and REACH for Sustainability formats. She also champions women founders through the Women's* Empowerment Program and related initiatives.
Max Muhkin
Senior Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager
Max is a seasoned DE&I professional with a decade of experience driving positive change within organisations. At Deliveroo, he leads initiatives to foster a more inclusive and equitable workplace, focusing on strategies to empower underrepresented and underserved talent throughout their career journey. His expertise in building inclusive cultures and mitigating disparities is a valuable contribution to any organisation seeking to create a more diverse and equitable environment.
Yeni Joseph
Head of Ecosystems & Public Policy
Yeni is the Head of Ecosystems & Public Policy at TNW (a Financial Times company), where she advocates for inclusive tech ecosystems and impactful tech policies. She also leads the Netherlands' Taskforce for Diversity and Inclusion, supported by NLdigital and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, to advance DEI in the digital industry. Her work focuses on fostering innovation through effective DEI policies in the tech sector.
Maarten Sikkema
Angel Investor
While studying aerospace engineering at TU Delft, Maarten developed a passion for computers and the internet. After graduation, he founded Macaw, a service company focused on websites, databases, automation, and custom software. He exited the company in 2021 after 25 years of growth and now works as an angel investor with Arches Capital.
Herman Kienhuis
Managing Partner - Curiosity VC
Herman is co-founder and managing partner of Curiosity, an Amsterdam-based VC-firm focused on early-stage AI software companies in the Benelux, Nordics and Baltics. Herman holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Groningen University and an MBA from INSEAD. He previously led product development at the Netherlands' largest online publisher and built investment funds SanomaVentures, KPN Ventures and angel syndicate River Venture Partners.
Joost Gombert
CEO at More
Joost has more than 20 years of experience as a strategic creative consultant for a wide range of companies and boards. His company More helps dozens of organisations, from tech start-ups to multinationals, from healthcare institutions to university education.
Rene Roord
Technical Director at FC Twente Vrouwen
René is in charge of FC Twente Women's technical policy. In it, he is responsible for putting together a powerful team, capable of winning championships. Under his leadership, FC Twente has already lifted the Eredivisie cup 9 times!
Christin Menke
Head of Start-up Coaching
Christin is part of the coaching team at the University and University of Applied Sciences Münster's start-up center - the REACH-EUREGIO Start-up Center - which works closely with Novel-T to create a strong start-up ecosystem in the region. With her background in sports and medical technology and her own start-up experience in the field of clinical research, she supports scientists and students from the fields of health and sports science who want to start their own company.
Greta Böske
Startup Coach
Greta is a start-up coach at REACH - EUREGIO Start-up Center. In addition to supporting aspiring founders in the start-up programs, she is responsible for the REACH Mentoring Program and organizes the annual Women's* Empowerment Convention and other offers specifically for women entrepreneurs. She also hosts the REACH podcast "Start-up Stimmen".
Gilles Meijer
CEO ScoutinScience
Gilles Meijer is a seasoned entrepreneur and co-founder of Golden Egg Check, Golden Egg Check Capital, and ScoutinScience. Golden Egg Check Capital is a leading Dutch VC firm with 22 deals completed. Through ScoutinScience, Gilles bridges academia and industry by identifying and advancing commercially promising scientific research. He has extensive experience in market research and startup coaching, driving tech transfer, spin-offs, patents, and industry collaborations.
Erwin Hoogland
Regional Minister
As Regional Minister of the Province of Overijssel Erwin is responsible for Economy, Europe, Cross-Border Cooperation and Defence. He strongly believes that success of cooperation depends on the quality of the relationship.
Diederik Stolk
Partner Arches Capital
Diederik Stolk has long been active in the start-up ecosystem, setting up an alumni start-up investing program and advising on growth strategy and capital raising. At Arches Capital, he helps run the largest angel syndicate in the Netherlands, with ~100 investors backing B2B software start-ups. Previously, he worked at a corporate finance boutique, advising on M&A, capital raising, and restructuring.
Beau-Anne Chilla
Partner FORWARD.one
Beau-Anne is a Partner at FORWARD.one, a Dutch deeptech hardware investor focused on early-stage Climate Tech investments. She previously worked at DOEN Participaties, overseeing energy-related investments, and began her career at fintech startup Adyen. She holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Groningen and serves on the Supervisory Board of Milieu Centraal, a sustainability-focused institution.
Arnaud Kooij
Angel Investor
Arnaud is a University of Twente Alumni and has been an entrepreneur for 25 years with multiple businesses in 3D software (SOLIDWORKS) and 3D printing. As an investor he was involved in Luxexcel, who got acquired by Meta in 2022. Currently, Arnaud is active as an angel investor, where he helps startups actively to reach success.
Mark Visser
CEO
Mark Visser studied Business Administration at Erasmus University and has been actively involved with start-ups and scale-ups for over 25 years. He has led and co-owned various SaaS and consultancy companies at the intersection of learning & ICT and is currently the CEO of hihaho interactive video. Since 2015, Mark has also been a board member of the Dutch Council for Training and Education (NRTO) and is active as an investor in various companies.
Linsey Go
COO & Founder
Linsey Go, founder and COO of ResearchManager, drives the digitalization of clinical research. Alongside Paul Somberg and Hans Middelweerd, she leads the company, offering a SaaS solution that streamlines the research process. Her leadership accelerates innovation in clinical research, helping ensure healthier lives for all.
Michiel Scheffer
President of European Innovation Council
Michiel Scheffer, a Dutch national, has three decades of experience in business, academia and public policy. He is equipped with a wide network in the world of research and innovation and has a remarkable professional experience of more than 20 years in the field of innovation, including on breakthrough technologies, disruptive innovations, start-ups impact investment.
Hans Scheffer
CEO & Founder
Hans is a serial entrepreneur and CEO and Founder of HelloPrint, Europe's largest platform for customisable printed products. Started at age 17, Hans has been on his entrepreneurial journey for almost 25 years. Next to HelloPrint, he's an active investor/co-founder in many startups in The Netherlands with his boutique investment company 94North Ventures. He's also an active contributor to the Dutch technology ecosystem.
Giels Brouwer
CEO & Founder
Giels began his entrepreneurial journey by introducing data-driven football scouting with SciSports. Today, he continues to innovate by building AI companies that leverage data to discover high-potential startups (Akela Hub), generate targeted leads (leadlister.ai), and monitor University alumni networks (alumniscan.com).
Floris van Hoogenhuyze
Co-founder & CEO
Floris is a serial entrepreneur and the Co-Founder and CEO of WE.VESTR, a platform that simplifies startup equity management for founders and investors. Before WE.VESTR, he co-founded two PropTech companies and Barqo, a leading Dutch boat rental platform, which he successfully exited in 2021. Since its founding in 2020, WE.VESTR has grown into a comprehensive equity management tool, supporting founders from incorporation to exit.
Mike van Klaveren
Managing Director
Mike van Klaveren, 36 years old, lives in Enschede with his wife Lisette and their two children, Scotti and Elli. He is ambitious, goal-oriented, and entrepreneurial. He works as the CEO of Elektramat, the leading online partner for electrical materials, with branches in Enschede and Almelo. Elektramat has been active since 2006 as a webshop in the field of electrical engineering for both professionals and private individuals.
Iris ten Have
Founding Principal
Motivated by a passion for science and a desire to make a tangible impact, Iris transitioned from academia to climate tech investing. With a background in chemistry, she believes in leveraging scientific advancements to tackle the world's most pressing problems, especially climate change. At Visionaries Tomorrow, her goal is to make impactful, science-driven investments that accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.
Florian Overkamp
Founder Speakup
Florian began his entrepreneurial journey in the early days of Internet access in the Netherlands. A college dropout, he learned business by doing, failing, and persevering. In 2003, he founded Speakup, one of the first VoIP B2B providers in the Netherlands, offering telecommunications solutions to keep entrepreneurs connected. Speakup operates using Holacracy, a collaborative organizational model based on equality.
Daniël de Vries
Founder WellBased
Daniël founded WellBased in 2021, an edtech startup in Enschede focused on improving secondary students' mental well-being. Inspired by his own experience with bullying, Daniël saw a gap in education: the need for teachers to teach essential life and study skills. In just three years, WellBased has impacted over 50,000 students, equipping them to thrive both academically and personally.
Rianne Roggema
Founder & OKR Consultant
In 2014, Rianne became the Managing Director of an online vehicle marketplace in a country that barely had internet: Myanmar. She started her own digital marketing agency (Irie Digital), which she built to 1 mln USD annual turnover and sold after 3 years. Due to the merger that followed, she saw her team grow from 20 to 80 people. With her current business Practic she helps leaders with easy, quick, and fun ways to set strategies and lead with clear goals.
Raoul Werger
CEO of Fundaments and Shareholder of INTERSTELLAR
Starting in late 2018 with Private Equity investor Quadrum, Raoul Werger embarked on an ambitious journey that began with a series of smaller acquisitions in the hosting industry through Oxilion. This was the beginning of a powerhouse collection of ICT companies. Fast forward to today, INTERSTELLAR has rapidly expanded to include 21 acquisitions, forming a national brand with 10 locations, 800 colleagues, and 3 distinct labels: Pinewood, RawWorks, and Fundaments.
Amelie Vermeer
Co-founder of Spoontainable
Amelie holds a Master of Science in Management from Heidelberg, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, and Lausanne. She sold her startup in 2023 and now leads Business Development at Allego Global GmbH. She also teaches Entrepreneurship at the University of Heidelberg and globally, while actively developing Germany's startup ecosystem. Her journey shows that with dedication and hard work, it's possible to make a meaningful impact and inspire others along the way.
Koen Droste
Co-fouder of Polarsteps
Born and raised in Twente, Koen co-founded Polarsteps in 2015. Today, over 10 million travelers from all over the world use this app to plan, track, and relive their adventures. 🗺️🏔️ With Polarsteps, he has truly 'built a product that people love,' scaling the app and the company to an impressive 60 people. And recently, Koen has been very open-hearted in interviews with BNR Nieuwsradio and Quote about his burnout, which is taboo for many entrepreneurs.
Saskia van den Ende
Associate Partner at Antler
Saskia is Associate Partner at Antler, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Amsterdam. With a robust background in psychology, holding a MSc from the University of Groningen, Saskia brings a unique blend of insight and expertise to the table. Over the past decade, she has amassed a wealth of experience in the tech industry and executive search, having contributed to renowned organizations such as BCG, Uber, and Egon Zehnder.
Alain le Loux
General Partner at Cottonwood Technology Fund
Alain le Loux, General Partner at Cottonwood Technology Fund, brings over 25 years of deep tech experience. He started his first startup at 21 and holds a double Master’s degree and an Executive MBA from the University of Twente. After leading a startup in Twente, Alain spent a decade coaching over 200 European high-tech startups. He has founded or co-founded 17 startups, including SciSports and LipoCoat, and is a sought-after speaker on venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Tanja Lendzion
CEO at Antea Group Nederland
Tanja stands at the intersection of people, technology, and commerce. She believes that behind every customer query lies a technical solution, and behind every solution, there is human creativity and teamwork. Together with her team, she leads an innovative and human-centric consulting and engineering firm. This organization is not only committed to continuous innovation and strong client connections but also dedicated to providing its people with the space to improve themselves and achieve their ambitions.
Stefan Witkamp
Co-founder Homey
Stefan created Homey together with his friend and co-founder Emile Nijssen while studying Creative Technology at the University of Twente. During their BSc. graduation in 2014, they raised over 200k EUR in the Netherlands' most successful Kickstarter campaign. And the rest is (future) history.
Anna Christmann
Member German Bundestag | Commissioner for digital economy and start-ups
She has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2017, the federal government's coordinator for German aerospace, and the BMWK's commissioner for the digital economy and start-ups. Among other things, she is committed to ensuring that ideas from science, business, and society are implemented and that the relevance of innovations for society becomes even clearer.
Paulus Schoutsen
Founder Home Assistant & Nabu Casa
Paulus Schoutsen created Home Assistant, one of the world's top 5 smart home platforms. That in itself is already impressive, let alone the fact that the platform is completely free and open-source. Nabu Casa, the commercial company he founded on the same principles, drives the development of Home Assistant.
Meron Mekonnen
Impact coordinator
Meron is an impact coordinator at LUMO Labs, an impact-driven multi-stage VC Fund. LUMO's purpose is to improve the quality of life and well-being of individuals and for medium- and long-term relief of the ever-increasing strain on (public) healthcare, social welfare, and the planet.
Nick Velten
Entrepreneur & Investor
He is the epitome of how you can make it big in Twente. Nick built Stimmt, Enschede’s well-renowned digital agency, which achieved top positions in the Emerce 100 and FONK magazine 150 rankings before being acquired by Loyals Groep.
Sven de Cleyn
Managing director imec.istart
He is the co-founder of the best university-linked startup accelerator imec.istart, according to UBI Global - Community For Business Incubators & Accelerators. And as program manager of imec.istart and managing director of the imec.istart fund & imec.istart.nl fund, Sven is an expert in advising tech startups on their investment and fundraising strategy.
Rinke Zonneveld
CEO of Invest-NL
Rinke is CEO of Invest-NL as well as a very experienced public entrepreneur. He prefers to operate at the intersection of private and public, with strong connections to the financial sector and knowledge institutions: all the elements that come together at Enschede Slush'D!
Rainer Harms
Associate Professor
Rainer is an associate professor of technology entrepreneurship in the ETM section, BMS faculty, University Twente. His passion is to support technology entrepreneurs through research, education, and service. Rainer is an international scholar who held visiting positions in the US, Australia, Middle East, and Europe.
Roy Kolkman
Director of Knowledge Transfer Office
Roy Kolkman is the director of the Knowledge Transfer Office at Novel-T that serves both University of Twente and Saxion University of Applied Sciences. He has 15 years experience in knowledge transfer and has been leading the Dutch initiative to realize a transparent set of national deal term principles on how to transfer IP to spin-offs.
Sven de Cleyn
Co-Founder & Program Director at imec.istart
Sven De Cleyn has over 20 years of experience in the tech startup and spinoff world. He co-founded imec.istart in 2011, the world’s no. 1 tech startup accelerator in the world according to the latest UBI Global benchmark. As Program Director, he leads the imec.istart programs across Europe and advises tech startups on their investment and fundraising strategy.
Organization
Slush’D is a community-driven movement that empowers teams across the globe to create events for their local ecosystems – all in the spirit of Slush’s mission “to create and help founders that change the world”. This event is organized by Novel-T in main partnership with Reach Euregio Start-up Center.
Partners
Enschede Slush'D is organized together with these partners. Interested in partnering up? Get in touch with Peter Dieleman via p.dieleman@novelt.com.
