The match
The Graduate Entrepreneur Fund (GEF) was established in 2021 as a boost to start-ups and scale-ups run by TU Delft and Rotterdam students and alumni. It helps young entrepreneurs with finance, networks and coaching.
Text: Agaath Diemel
When TU Delft alumni decided to establish an investment fund for student start-ups, they found out that alumni from Erasmus University Rotterdam were already planning the same thing. Together, they set up the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund.
“We have high hopes for the combination of Delft technology and innovation using Rotterdam business models. Mixed teams with engineers and commercially-oriented partners are often successful”, says Gert Jan van der Hoeven.
But he is keen to stress that he is just one of the driving forces behind the GEF. Having set up the investment company H2 Equity Partners, Van der Hoeven had the knowledge and experience to shape the fund. “The GEF consists of a commercial seed fund and a pre-seed fund with ANBI status. It’s an unusual construction: both need to operate independently, with their own board, etc. Designing it was a fun challenge”, he says.
Around 100 alumni have invested in the seed fund, making €50 million available to help start-ups become scale-ups. “Most have also donated to the pre-seed fund. In the next five years, €7 million will become available for investment in start-ups. The pre-seed fund is an evergreen fund, so we continually reinvest the proceeds”, says Van der Hoeven. An experienced fund management team has been appointed, led by Erasmus alumnus Auke van den Hout. The Student Board also has an important role to play: “They are deeply rooted in the university and keep the network alive.”
‘We can help young people and create companies for the Netherlands that offer quality jobs’
‘After a quick telephone call to someone in the network with the right experience, we had everything we needed’
Auto-Pilot, founded by alumni Philip Weijschede (Erasmus University) and
Thom Trentelman (TU Delft), is one of the start-ups that received pre-seed funds. Auto-Pilot developed an AI toolkit to help companies structure their data streams. “Important information is still often received in email or PDF form. Processing that can be difficult to automate, so it’s often done manually. Auto-Pilot enables most of that processing to happen automatically, with the user simply finalising the details. It saves time, money and hassle”, explains Trentelman. With the pre-seed fund money, the company could make a crucial step forward. “We were able to shift our focus onto further development and attract bigger customers.”
Time and capital
Alumni invest capital and devote their time to the initiative free of charge. More than 100 alumni have already signed up as coaches and mentors. Auto-Pilot is happy to make use of them. Trentelman: “We recently had talks with a new partner. We got all kinds of questions about exclusivity, discount schemes and other issues, but were unsure about their impact. After a quick telephone call to someone in the network with the right experience, we had everything we needed for a successful negotiation. People love to help.” Van der Hoeven agrees. “It enables us to help young people and create companies for the Netherlands that offer quality jobs. It’s great!”