Despite the economic turbulence of recent years, YES!Delft companies succeeded in securing no less than €25 million in investments from venture capital, grants and prize money in 2010. Their joint turnover also increased to almost €22 million, up from €13 million in 2009.
As in previous years, the Delft companies continued to grow. The number of jobs provided directly by the companies increased by almost 18%, to 470 at year-end 2010. This also means that YES!Delft companies are indirectly responsible for a total of 1100 jobs in the region. As a result, YES!Delft companies provide a boost to high-end employment in the city of Delft.
Seventeen new companies
In the summer of 2010, YES!Delft and its entrepreneurs relocated to a new Incubator building at Molengraaffsingel in Science Port Holland. This makes the entrepreneurs’ centre even more attractive for start-up companies, both from TU Delft and outside the university. This was also reflected in the figures: No fewer than 17 new companies joined the YES!Delft Incubation Centre in the course of 2010. Since it was established in 2005, YES!Delft has provided support to 90 companies.
Marco Waas, a YES!Delft board member on behalf of TU Delft, responded enthusiastically to the results: “The Netherlands faces some difficult challenges. We need to find solutions to the consequences of climate change, the ageing population, the depletion of raw materials, increasing mobility and environmental pollution. At the same time, we also need to earn our living. This calls for groundbreaking innovations and entrepreneurship is an essential ingredient in that.”
Annual success
All of this is revealed by the results of the annual survey conducted among 63 of the 90 companies supported by YES!Delft. As a number of the companies did not take part in the survey, the results may even be an understatement of the true achievements. This year’s survey was managed for the first time by Dr Victor Scholten and Dr. Dap Hartmann from the Technology, Strategy and Entrepreneurship department in TU Delft’s faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.
YES!Delft
“YES!Delft has proved to be a resounding success. So now it is time to take the next step. This means ensuring that the companies launched here stay in the city, for example by building a new building right next to the YES!Delft building”, says Pieter Guldemond, Deputy Mayor with responsibility for the knowledge economy and spatial planning in Delft and also a YES!Delft board member.
YES!Delft is the entrepreneurs’ centre for TU Delft and the Municipality of Delft. YES!Delft distinguishes itself from other Incubators since it not only offers practical support in the establishment and development of high-tech companies, but also focuses on students, academics, scientists and others who have an interest in entrepreneurship.
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.
