Group photo of all participants and attendees during the Green Innovation Hub Contest 2024 in Almere.
Almere, 18 April 2024 – Scale-up Vennster from Nijkerk is the winner of the Green Innovation Hub Contest 2024. In this contest, nine start-ups and scale-ups presented their innovative solution for a sustainable and inclusive living environment. With their method and intelligent participation app Parta, Vennster managed to convince the jury to use their product together with Almere residents for the Almere residential areas Hortus and Pampus.
The social app enables a municipality to reach a broad target group, this was ultimately the decisive factor in winning. The product will be further developed in cooperation with the municipality of Almere and other organisations that were involved in the contest. The scale-up will also win a trip to the Smart City World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, the production of their own company film and receive coaching to further develop the company.
Partner and owner Lonneke Dikmans of Vennster accepted the Golden Award: “We are very happy to have won, because it is a recognition of our mission. We want to connect as many people as possible in the Netherlands with our method and app and thereby solve societal challenges, such as the energy transition.”
Frtl: Lonneke Dikmans (owner and partner at Vennster) receives the Golden Award from Lisa van der Heijden (advisor community management FDS & Digilab at Realisation IBDS) and Geert-Jan Put (head of economic developments at Municipality of Almere).
Partner and owner Lonneke Dikmans (pictured right) of Vennster accepted the Golden Award: “we are very happy to have won, because it is a recognition of our mission. We want to connect as many people as possible in the Netherlands with our method and app and thereby solve societal challenges such as energy transition.”
Annual competition for sustainable startups and scaleups
In April 2023, the first edition of the Green Innovation Hub Contest was organised from the Green Innovation Hub. Civity from Amersfoort ran away with the top prize then. A contest will be held again next year. The Green Innovation Hub is a collaboration between the Municipality of Almere, the Province of Flevoland and VodafoneZiggo.
Nico Bettings, director Fixed Network (VodafoneZiggo) explains: “The way we work, live and communicate with each other is changing rapidly. New innovations are essential in this respect. I think Vennster is a fantastic example of this. I hope this award will give them a push in the right direction, with all the expertise present in the hub.”
Innovation power in Almere
Throughout the Netherlands, but certainly in Almere, the call for sustainable and innovative living solutions is strong. Over the next ten years, one million houses will be built and new neighbourhoods created, including all infrastructure. The aim is to make these areas as sustainable and future-proof as possible. That is why the Green Innovation Hub has descended on Almere in 2023 and the competition will focus on innovations that can be applied in these new residential areas.
Geert Jan Put, head of economic developments at the Municipality of Almere explains: “In terms of area development, we are in the biggest transition in recent years. Almere is growing by more than twenty per cent a year. This makes our city the testing ground for innovations that contribute to a future-proof and sustainable living environment. The solutions presented during the Green Innovation Hub Contest each contribute in their own way to a sustainable and nature-inclusive city. I will continue to follow the organisations with interest.”
Fltr: Danny Frietman (Green Innovation Hub), Harm Dijkstra (Province of Flevoland), Nico Bettings (VodafoneZiggo), Caspar de Jonge (DMI-ecosystem), René Visser (Green Innovation Hub/VodafoneZiggo) and Geert-Jan Put (Municipality of Almere) after signing collaboration Dutch Metropolitan Innovations and Green Innovation Hub (from left to right).
Next phase Green Innovation Hub
The Green Innovation Hub recently moved to building Floor on Hospitaaldreef in Almere. The final of the Green Innovation Hub Contest took place here. The new building also opened the CityLab Almere during the evening where Vennster can present their product to interested companies, government and educational institutions within and outside Almere. With the new office, the size of the hub has increased almost tenfold. As of 1 July, an additional 1,000 m2 of space will even be added. This will allow the new building to be opened up to startups and scaleups still looking for office space. Interested parties can make themselves known via the Green Innovation Hub website.
About the Green Innovation Hub
The Green Innovation Hub is an incubator for meeting, collaboration and innovation. Parties develop digital solutions for a healthy urban environment, local food security, mobility, circular building, energy distribution and social connection between city residents. Joint innovations are validated and scaled up at dedicated greenfield sites. The Green Innovation Hub is an open ecosystem of business, government and education.
