ReadLer, Medassist, MycoFarming® win Demonstrator Lab’s Summer Pitch Event 

Demonstrator Lab celebrated its participant’s achievements in the vibrant atmosphere of the Summer Pitch Event held on 16 May. Among the 26 pre-finalists, six standout projects presented their ideas to an esteemed jury in the finals. Ultimately, ReadLer, Medassist and MycoFarming® emerged victorious, each securing € 1,000 vouchers to further advance their projects. 

 Photo by Caren Huygelen 

 The expert jury was particularly impressed this year by the quality of the pitches and praised the entrepreneurial spirit of the event. They chose three outstanding projects as winners: ReadLer, Medassist, MycoFarming® each secure € 1,000 vouchers to further advance their projects. Congratulations to all!  

The audience engagement was also striking, the room was packed for the event and the live votes for the audience choice award poured in, selecting BeyondBounds Studios as an upcoming favorite! 

The winners in 2023 were Madglove, Pulse Sport and VU AMS. All of them are highly valued members of the Demonstrator Lab community, passing on their experience to peer projects. Soon they’ll take the next step in the VU Entrepreneurship ecosystem and move their offices to the VU StartHub. 

“Our Demonstrator Lab VU projects showed great entrepreneurial spirit in preparing for the pitches and their demo’s, which resulted in a truly spectacular show with high quality pitches and presentations today. The Demonstrator Lab Team is proud of the community and all the members individually as we see them growing together by supporting each other and great peer-to-peer learning.” 

~ Berno Bucker Interim Director Demonstrator Lab Amsterdam 

About the winners 

ReadLer – ReadLer is an AI-powered digital assistant focused on children with language and speech disabilities. The application gives tailored feedback on how to improve speech and can be used as both complementary and independently from language therapy. 

Medassist  – Medassist proposes an elderly care solution that is an in-room secure medication dispenser that elderly people can use themselves. This solution improves working efficiency for the nursing staff and means less disturbances in an elderly person’s room throughout the day. 

MycoFarming® – MycoFarming® harnesses the power of fungi to combat the nitrogen crisis. The proposed solution uses the natural filtration capabilities of fungal mycelium, to capture and degrade nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, from agricultural runoff before they accumulate in our water bodies. 

About Demonstrator Lab 

The Demonstrator Lab is the academic pre-commercial incubator facility of VU (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and UvA (Universiteit van Amsterdam). This academic year, Demonstrator Lab has welcomed 45 new projects of students and staff, and 71 projects are currently working on demonstrating the potential of their entrepreneurial idea.