A lot of funding in this week’s Dutch startup news update!
Funding
BuyBay, an IT/retail startup founded in 2014, raised “millions” from Belgian VC Fortino Capital. The company wants to make sure that returned goods are sold again. (link’s in Dutch)
Amsterdam-based fintech startup Dimebox raised 5 million euro in a series A round from the BillPro Group, a global payment processor.
Solar rental startup Solease from Utrecht raised another 1 million euro through crowdfunding platform DuurzaamInvesteren.nl. The startup already got around 7.5 million euro in subsidies and loans from several regional development funds, mainly to finance its stock (the solar panels).
Dutch bank Rabobank took a majority stake in its subsidiary investment app Peaks. With Peaks, every card payments is rounded up to a whole euro. With that money, the bank invests for you.
Pressroom startup pr.co has announced a 400.000 euro investment, led by Optima Investments.
News & Updates
SaaS startup Obi4wan has taken over reputation bureau Buzzcapture. Both companies offer social media monitoring and webcare services.
Online shopping plugin startupYippie last week was declared bankrupt (link’s in Dutch). Founder and CEO Maurice Kroon says he’ll be working on a restart.
Bolt Mobility, the creator of the ‘smart scooter’ or ‘app scooter’, again is on its way to get several millions through crowdfunding. On Leapfunder, they hit the 1 million euro mark, after it previously had a crowdfunding record in The Netherlands.
Applications for the next Postcode Lottery Green Challenge are open! Be sure to submit your green and sustainable business plan before June 1, 2017.
We interviewed Speakap, an internal social network for non-desk employees. The startup is growing steadily and is planning to expand to the US and UK. How did they lose their ‘Facebook for business’ image?
Be sure to attend HighTechXL’s XL Day on March 16. 12 startups from the Eindhoven accelerator will pitch.
Monday reads
“The more technology multiplies, the more it amplifies instability.” Interesting longread: Why Nothing Works Anymore (The Atlantic)
Three critical hires you need to make as a startup founder – and why (Thinkgrowth)
Dominik Vacikar (ex-Nestpick) switch careers and is now a VC. Here’s what he noticed his first months in. (Hacker Noon)