Demonstrator Lab Open House

Meet like-minded academics and researchers in our entrepreneurship laboratory

Are you walking around with a potential commercial or non for profit spin-off idea of your research, but you never had the time or comfort to get it out there and test it with others?
Are you in need of a low barrier to entry environment where you can safely propose and discuss your idea?
Join us for our Demonstrator Lab Open House on December 12th and meet like-minded academics and researchers that have already started experimenting in our entrepreneurship laboratory at the VU. The Demonstrator Lab Open House is a perfect day to meet the vibrant community of D>LAB start-up projects, VU Dream Teams and the brand new Makerspace that allows for rapid prototyping and bringing your ideas to life.
All VU researchers, support staff and students are welcome to walk in between 12:00-17:00hrs; you will find us in the P corridor on the second floor of the W&N building. There will be tours through the lab, projects pitching their ideas and showcasing the products that they’ve made and the D>LAB community sharing their aspirations and experiences with testing out their business or non for profit ideas.
From 17:00hrs onwards there will be networking drinks with ecosystem partners that provide entrepreneurship trainings, coaching, funding and help with commercial grant writing.

A lot will be going on – typical of the Demonstrator Lab

To make it a fun and interactive day, we have a lot planned for those planning to visit us. A rough outline of what to expect:

• Speed dates with business developers
• A no barrier to entry Dragons’ Den to present your idea to the world
• Workshops in the Makerspace – such as 3D printing
• The opportunity to have your professional LinkedIn or online profile picture made
• Around 40 start-up projects showcasing their technologies, inventions and innovative solutions
• The 4 VU Dream Teams, embedded at the Demonstrator Lab, showcasing how they work on shaping a better tomorrow
• Students from Mechanical Engineering and Creative Technology, the joint VU-UT educational tracks, showcasing their prototypes and real-world-problem-solving creations
• IXA-GO will be there to tell you all about the Amsterdam Science and Innovation Award 2025, to give you insights into the trajectory, learnings and benefits that you will have from participating in this pan-Amsterdam academic competition
• Funding agencies and partners of the VU, such as the Amsterdam Student Investment Fund (ASIF), pre-seed venture capitalists, and Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland, will be around to scout their new investments and opportunities for grants, to network and provide insights in their way of working

The Demonstrator Lab team, the VU StartHub and the VU Entrepreneurship student ambassadors will be there to welcome you, give tours, connect you to the right people and most of all make it a fun Open House experience for all of our visitors.

Are you curious?

This will be the perfect time to just walk in, make your ideas known to the world and see if we can support you in any way to realize them.
Your registration prior to the event is going to help us tremendously to prepare well for the event. Thank you and hope to see you soon!

The Demonstrator Lab Team

• Register here
• Follow us on LinkedIn for all updates on the Open House event and all that’s going on at the Demonstrator Lab