An outsider’s insider view of the Belgian entrepreneurial ecosystem
More specifically, what’s going on in Antwerp and why I am excited about it as a business tourist.
This is Antwerp invited eight creative tech entrepreneurs to Antwerp in order to discover the local tech and innovation scene. They met with local entrepreneurs and creatives, visited the SuperNova tech festival, and thought about how This is Antwerp could use new technologies.
This is their story.
Everyone This is Antwerp invited to discover Antwerp through experience (D.A.T.E.):
- Orfeuo Lionor, We Empower Innovators, NL
- Farbod Saraf, Everboard / Mobiquity Inc., US/NL
- Yana Canvas, social media expert, US/NL
- Lily Christensen, what3words, US/UK
- Tom Cassauwers, freelance tech writer, BE
- Björn Lapakko (MEEEEEE!), Funderbeam, US/EE
- Axel Steinkuhle, evrbit, DE
- Cas Ketel, independent VR expert, NL
As you can maybe tell, we were all chosen because we had different backgrounds and areas of expertise — yet we possessed quite a few commonalities based on our mutual industry areas. This — I assume — was the aim, as This is Antwerp hoped our differences and similarities would lead to a lot of collaborating, idea sharing, and innovative thinking.
They were spot on…but more on this later.
Before arriving in Antwerp, I gathered a bit of background information on the Belgian startup ecosystem, courtesy of Funderbeam’s data platform. Using our insights, I was able to find over 800 startups in Belgium. A few of the most well funded include Showpad, Promethera Biosciences, and Teamleader. I was also able to find one focused on the Antwerp market — iButler. I hoped this would give me a bit of a baseline in terms of assumptions into their ecosystem; but as with everything, peripheral insight pales in comparison to getting your boots on the ground.
It’s also important to note that to understand the pulse of a particular ecosystem, you need to go beyond the meetings, conferences, workshops, etc. — you need to embrace the culture. Fortunately, this is exactly what This is Antwerp provided.
Day 1 — INSPIRATION & INTRODUCTIONS
We started the week off with a cultural bike excursion around the city (here’s a recap of the ride). Exploring the river Scheldt, Antwerp’s Underpass, their Friday Market, and Grand Square gave us an initial impression of the flow of people in and out of the city, the history of Belgium, and how art has driven their culture for hundreds of years. Later, we went to the CoFoundry (they fund and build sustainable companies), where Beyond.io shared their experiences as a design studio.
After this, we were introduced to our week-long project, at the end of which we would present a product, idea, or concept to local officials as to how Antwerp can boost their tourism efforts. Our project would focus around answering the following question:
How can This is Antwerp use new technology to enhance the experience of the city’s visitors?
This question would be on the forefront of our minds as we would end the day listening to Biz Stone, Seth Godin, and others during the inaugural SuperNova tech conference.
Day 2 — WORKSHOPS GALORE
Our second day began at the CoFoundery with another workshop designed to lead us toward better answering the program’s overarching question mentioned above. Yellow Window (a creative studio) led the workshop, during which we discussed the meaning of inclusion and used it to brainstorm ideas on how Antwerp could make tourists feel more included.
After that, we had a follow-up workshop with Studio Dott (a full service creative agency) — they emphasized that our focus should be on what tourists experience before, during, and after their trip. We also were to consider what Antwerp might be like 10 to 20 years from now.
With all that in mind, we headed back to SuperNova for additional inspiration (as well as a lot of food for thought) regarding how to present something tangible on the third and final day.
Day 3 — EXTRA CITY
On our final day of exploring Antwerp’s rich culture, we visited Extra City for some coffee, cake, conversation, and artistic inspiration. This was a refreshing mental break (and a nice transition) before we headed into the final hours of preparing our project and subsequent presentation…
END GAME — Presenting a whole new strategy for Antwerp (DATE-U)
What job do I hire Antwerp for?
There were — in total — three presentations given. I will focus on the presentation from my group (Myself, Orfy, and Cas), but you can read about the others' presentations here. Through the incredible experience crafted for us by This is Antwerp, our advice became more abstract — steeped in inspiration from the previous days, but in an equally literal sense. We first advocated to stop developing products and marketing toward an audience. Instead, we encouraged local authorities to first ask themselves, “What job do people hire Antwerp for?”
Why do people come to Antwerp? What job do they want the city to do for them?
Our aim was to shift the focus to more of a “return on investment” approach. As in, what return do people get for visiting Antwerp? This approach is more of a lean-startup focus rather than the traditional tourism marketing and statistical way of addressing the market.
For example: if people are coming to Antwerp for work, Antwerp should put forth effort to get these “business tourists” connected with local entrepreneurs and get them to understand the soul of Antwerp’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. If they’re coming for leisure — let’s say to visit a music festival — then Antwerp should offer them an easy way to access the local music scene in order to understand the soul of Antwerp’s musical ecosystem.
In this manner, both visitors and locals will benefit from travel to — and tourism within — Antwerp. Visitors will gain knowledge and understanding while obtaining local contacts. Locals will — in turn — see a growing and diverse expansion to their international networks.
You can view our full presentation on SlideShare. If you’re interested in collaborating on or developing this project further, please feel free to reach out to us.
Creative Antwerp — final thoughts
Antwerp offers a vibrant and inclusive environment, in which the classic and new schools intersect. For entrepreneurs and seasoned business professionals alike, there is something clearly attractive and promising that will always draw my attention to this city. As I have spent my career working for Fortune 100 corporations, ad agencies, startups, and with investors, I consider Antwerp to be a hub of opportunity. You can read more about my perspective (and the perspectives of others) via Courier Media.
Check out:
- This is Antwerp
- VOKA
- SuperNova
- W.R. Yuma sunglasses
- Gerrie Smits (he wrote a book about Blockchain)
- DotsAndPlanes
- Ultra Eczema (art by Dennis Tyfus — he tattooed me!)
- Us By Night — Antwerp
If I missed you, this wasn’t by intention. Just message me directly and I’ll make a quick update :-)
Shoutout to Niko Caignie for the amazing photos he took throughout the trip. You can check out his portfolio and hire him for your ad campaign, promotional content, etc. right here http://www.nikocaignie.be/
