Amsterdam’s Thriving Startup Scene

Amsterdam is reinforcing its status as a major startup hub in Europe, home to around 1,219 startups—nearly 45 per cent of the Netherlands’ total. While the city experienced a slight dip in the 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, it continues to attract talent and investment.

Recent Funding Successes

In April 2025, several Amsterdam-based startups secured new funding rounds, underscoring the city’s energetic entrepreneurial scene. This article profiles the companies that raised capital, many of which are now expanding their teams.

Startup Profiles

The following startups have made significant strides in securing funding and are contributing to Amsterdam’s thriving startup ecosystem.

SOUS

• Founders: Thomas Scholte, Devon Scoulelis
• Funding Amount: Secured strategic investment from PeakBridge
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  SOUS is a digital platform built to help chefs, restaurants, and food entrepreneurs run online businesses. It offers a single platform for selling meal kits, products, experiences, and subscriptions directly to customers. The company plans to expand into new service categories, including chef-at-home services and gift cards.

Avidicure

• Founders: Arthur Lahr
• Funding Amount: Announced its launch with $50M (nearly €43.8M) in seed funding
• Hiring Status: No
  Avidicure has introduced a new antibody platform called “AVC-Boosters”. This platform combines dual agonistic, multifunctional, and avidity-engineered features to deliver targeted monotherapy for use in oncology. AVC-Boosters activate coordinated responses from both the innate and adaptive immune systems.

Rembrandt

• Founders: Vincent Wijdeveld, Bob van Ratingen
• Funding Amount: Secured €330K in funding
• Hiring Status: No
  Rembrandt offers an AI revenue intelligence platform that provides real-time insights into leads, prospects, and customers. Its platform consolidates account-level insights, integrates with CRM systems, and sends notifications through Slack.

Pro Parents

• Founders: Joyce Knappe
• Funding Amount: Secured €1M in growth capital
• Hiring Status: No
  Pro Parents offers HR technology that helps employers support employees during pregnancy, the postpartum period, and while managing work and parenthood. The company has supported over 8,000 parents and their employers.

Tella

• Founders: Michiel Westerbeek, Grant S.
• Funding Amount: Raised $2.1M in seed funding
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  Tella is a screen recording platform that allows users to create video content such as demos, online courses, customer tutorials, and social media promotions.

Cruit

• Founders: Steye Kaersenhout
• Funding Amount: Secured undisclosed funding
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  Cruit is an employee referral platform that helps companies harness the hiring power of their teams. The company makes the referral process easier and cuts down on extra work, helping companies hire faster and improve employee satisfaction and retention.

Tective Robotics

• Founders: Mattijs Otten, Jeffrey Miog, Frank van Veelen
• Funding Amount: Raised fresh funding
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  Tective Robotics specialises in autonomous drone systems. It develops dual-use autonomous drone systems designed to support decision-making in defence, emergency response, and agriculture.

Skytree

• Founders: Max Beaumont, currently led by CEO Rob van Straten
• Funding Amount: Amount undisclosed
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  Skytree develops Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology for carbon removal and utilisation. Built on European Space Agency expertise, the company delivers scalable, plug-and-play systems tailored for both decentralised installations and large-scale DAC Parks.

NOWOS

• Founders: Ambre Eppler, Steven Bradshaw, Jan Bartels, Prins Doornekamp
• Funding Amount: Raised €6M in equity funding
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  NOWOS specialises in repairing and reusing lithium-ion batteries. The company’s mission is to extend the life of batteries, reducing energy and material waste.

Refinery89

• Founders: Hugo Welkers, Rob Ottens
• Funding Amount: Undisclosed
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  Refinery89 was founded to address the need for an adtech partner focused on the interests of publishers rather than advertisers. As publishers themselves, the founders built Refinery89 to create ad monetisation solutions aimed at improving revenue for digital publishers.

CarePay

• Founders: Led by current CEO, Pieter Prickaerts
• Funding Amount: Secured €5M in fresh funding
• Hiring Status: Yes, apply here
  CarePay provides a platform that helps health insurers and third-party administrators digitise and manage their operations across pricing, products, member interactions, and care access. It uses real-time data and AI to automate claims, detect fraud, and analyse member behaviour.

beSirius

• Founders: Anastasia Kuskova, Seva Martynov, Sergey Tyan
• Funding Amount: Secured €3M in an oversubscribed seed round
• Hiring Status: No
  beSirius offers a full-cycle technology stack for Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) to promote sustainability in the metals and mobility sectors.

Peckish

• Founders: Harpreet Singh, Sebastien Pradier
• Funding Amount: Secured €800K in pre-seed funding
• Hiring Status: No
  Peckish delivers insights and automated recommendations to restaurant managers, aiming to reduce costs and food waste. It is building an operations platform for restaurants.

Conclusion

The recent funding successes of these Amsterdam-based startups underscore the city’s position as a thriving hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. With a diverse range of industries represented, from food and health to sustainability and technology, Amsterdam continues to attract talent and investment, solidifying its status as a major startup hub in Europe. As these startups grow and expand, they are not only contributing to the local economy but also making significant impacts in their respective fields, both nationally and internationally.