Entrepreneurship Education

Developing high-quality entrepreneurship education – Amsterdam’s higher education institutions have been working closely together on this since 2008. This was done in the IXAnext valorisation program between 2016 and 2021. We proudly present the main results of the IXAnext program:

• Ten Amsterdam entrepreneurship cases;
• Post experience education for alumni;
• Blended learning modules;
• A mentoring platform for student startups.

Entrepreneurship cases
In order to raise entrepreneurship education in Amsterdam to a higher level, entrepreneurship cases – a variety of lesson cases with successful new businesses from the Amsterdam region, covering a range of topics – were developed for teachers active in entrepreneurship education. This has enabled teachers to implement their teaching program in an innovative, recent and inspiring way. A few examples are the Tony Chocolonely case, where the focus lies on social entrepreneurship, the fintech case SRXP, which covers the development and growth of a young entrepreneur and the Next Web case, which covers the employees’ point of view in a growing business. To see all the entrepreneurship cases and how to use them in class, visit the website.

Blended Learning
As part of the IXAnext program, pilots with Blended Learning were executed. Blended learning is the combination of online (lecture material) and offline (personal contact) educational activities within a course or curriculum. This is particularly suitable for entrepreneurship education, in which experiential learning is central and the need for knowledge is highly context dependent. More information on the website

Post Experience Education
To keep alumni with their own business up to speed with the latest insights and knowledge, the Post-Experience Program, with masterclasses and courses, was developed.  More than half of the alumni of the Amsterdam University of the Arts work as a self-employed person immediately after their studies – many even start doing so during their studies. Knowledge of entrepreneurship is therefore essential. Not only during the training, but also afterwards.

Startup and Running
In the startup phase of a company, it can be particularly valuable to be able to spar with an experienced entrepreneur. Therefore, the Startup and Running platform was launched. On the platform, student entrepreneurs can find experienced mentors – active entrepreneurs, who can advise them in the various stages of the startup. More information about Startupandrunning