About Demonstrator Lab
So… you have this promising idea that might be the start of a business
Then Demonstrator Lab is the entrepreneurship laboratory where you can transform your ideas into a tangible product or service. Demonstrator Lab is a learning-by-doing environment open to students and staff members. Its goal is to foster an entrepreneurial culture in the higher education ecosystem of the city and to boost research driven innovation by giving its members the opportunity to get their feet wet at no cost.
We can help you throughout the entire idea-to-market process. From forming the team, to developing a prototype. From working out the most efficient marketing strategy to find the resources needed to deploy that strategy. Supported by our vast network, we provide you with the business tools that help you explore whether your idea can make it. As the saying goes, there is no failure: you either succeed or you learn.
For whom?
Demonstrator Lab is open to students, staff and researchers from all disciplines from HvA, UvA, VU and Amsterdam UMC. Participants enter the lab at the very early phase of the idea-to-market process.
The Lab offers an entrepreneurial-minded academic environment where, in parallel with your everyday activity, you can:
- Identify the actual customer added value hidden in your abstract idea
- Fix your entrepreneurial goals and their affordable losses
- Create the network of collaborators (including first customers) needed to test the idea
- Build a prototype – Minimum Valuable Product (MVP)
- Test the prototype with customers
- Move on: make a new MVP or find further funding or pivot or abandon and try again.
Why would you bring your idea into Demonstrator Lab?
Whether you’re a student or a researcher, you might be wondering whether you are the right person to bring your idea to market. The good news is: we are here to help. Our team supports you in all the critical stages of developing your idea into tangible customer value. The strength of the Lab stems from an active engagement with the research community and from the possibility to access a wealth of facilities – not only in the field of sciences but also in the field of product development (e.g. for fast prototyping).
By joining Demonstrator Lab you minimize your risk exploring different hypotheses to bring your idea outside the lab, surrounded by well-connected professionals. You get the opportunity to carry out a conceptual or technical feasibility study and perform business research.
Do not hesitate: if you are in doubt, contact us. We would be more than happy to discuss with you whether and how we can help you.
What can you expect from us?
- Advice on all aspects of the idea-to-market process;
- Lab facilities, lab space, and office space (for a total of 580 sqm);
- Access to mechanical and electronic workshop, Faculty of Science, VU;
- Seed grant (no-string-attached, minimal bureaucracy) of up to € 15,000;
- Flagship grant of up to € 40,000 for a small, selected number of projects;
- Connection to the Demonstrator Lab network.
Students of UvA receive €100,000 for sign language project
Master students of the UvA and University of Oslo received €100,000 for the DITA project to bridge the communication gap between users of sign language and society. The DITA project, located in Demonstrator Lab, was awarded the STUD-ENT grant from the Research Council of Norway last April. There is a communication gap between users of […]
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425K investment for VU startup Cargoplot
Cargoplot recently raised 425K funding by several angels and ASIF Ventures, a startup fund run for, and by, VU, UvA and HvA students. Cargoplot is an online platform for e-commerce importers and freight forwarder, that aims to speed up the process of finding the best freight forwarder on specific routes for different types of cargo. […]
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Start-up Cupplement receives investment in TV program Dragons Den
Is it possible to create a cup of coffee that’s healthy and tasty? At the entrepreneurship laboratory Demonstrator Lab at the Vrije Universiteit, Florian Fermin (27) and Stefan Wateler (26) developed Cuppelement, a Fairtrade biodegradable coffee capsule with added superfoods and vitamins. During the Dutch TV program Dragons Den, the entrepreneurs successfully persuaded the dragons […]
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