Meet the entrepreneurs in Amsterdam's Soft Landing Program
Amsterdam Impact, the City of Amsterdam’s impact entrepreneurship initiative, has teamed up with the global Impact Hub network for a soft landing programme that helps impact entrepreneurs scale their business from and to the Netherlands.
Amsterdam Impact connects international impact ecosystems and strengthens Amsterdam’s role as a launchpad from which homegrown impact entrepreneurs can scale to new markets and impact entrepreneurs from abroad can expand to the Netherlands. To this end, the initiative has partnered with ABN AMRO and Impact Hub Amsterdam for the Soft Landing Program. This series supports impact entrepreneurs from Amsterdam’s food sector who want to scale to the German market and impact entrepreneurs from Vienna’s fashion industry who want to explore the vibrant Dutch fashion scene.
During both editions of the Soft Landing Program participants will connect to stakeholders from the food and fashion sectors, the municipality, the local social enterprise and startup communities, investors, retailers, and production facilities. The aim? A go-to-market roadmap complete with next steps and all the relevant contacts needed to follow up with and validate their business in the German and Dutch markets, respectively.
Soft Landing: To Berlin | Sustainable Food edition
As part of the program, six impact entrepreneurs working on sustainable food will also be meeting with food retailers. In preparation for these conversations, the participants had a prep day with experts from trade agency and client matchmakers Handelsagent Duitsland, and international business coaches and developers Top in Export (part of impact investing collective Generous Minds). During the prep day they worked on sharpening their pitches and tailoring their product offering to the German food retail landscape.
Botanic Bites turns rescued mushroom stems into full-flavour, plant-based sausages, burgers and shoarma with a natural meaty bite.
BUMI gives a tasty, contemporary twist to the traditional soy-based tempeh by locally producing 100% organic varieties from lupin beans.
Karma Shoarma is a 100% plant-based, protein-packed shoarma made from locally grown grains and veggies.
KRUSH makes low-sugar breakfast cereals with a minimum of 50% rescued ingredients ranging from walnuts to cocoa and orange peel.
Wakuli brings freshly roasted specialty blends directly from fairly compensated smallholder farmers to your mailbox.
Willicroft produces plant-based cheese for dairy cheese lovers, combining traditional dairy farming techniques with planet-friendly ingredients.
Soft Landing: From Vienna | Sustainable fashion edition
Five impact entrepreneurs creating sustainable fashion, ranging from circular sportswear to timeless basics, will be exploring Amsterdam’s fashion ecosystem during a five-day visit packed with valuable content and connections:
Montreet makes functional and circular sportswear - think leggings, shorts and parkas - from upcycled yarns such as fishing nets.
VRESH is a sustainable streetwear brand that focuses on wearable, stylish and durable collections produced by small family-owned businesses in Portugal
nicetomeetyou creates eco-friendly activewear from post-consumer waste for yoga, sports and a conscious life.
Miyagi’s sleek bodywear relies on innovative fabrics derived from raw materials such as cellulose sourced from sustainably managed eucalyptus forests.
Kukla makes a flexible garment that can adapt to your everyday life: wear it as a scarf, vest, dress or skirt!