We are celebrating Silicon Canals’ 10th anniversary! Inspired by the Amsterdam canals and the passion of the founders, Remco Janssen launched Silicon Canals in 2014 to provide essential startup news across Europe.
He mentions, “Looking back at 2014, I realised there was a lack of reliable startup news sources for insiders and outsiders. As a journalist and communications expert, this drove me to start a media platform for startups covering not only the Netherlands but also the Benelux and Europe.”
Since our inception, we’ve seen remarkable growth and change, including our pivotal shift from Dutch to English on May 24, 2016, to better engage with Amsterdam’s diverse startup community.
“To mark our 10-year journey and reaffirm our commitment to the European startup ecosystem, we are excited to introduce Silicon Canals 3.0. With a robust backend to match the growing demand of news from the European tech ecosystem, and a clean, fresh look, we’re ready for the next decade.”
To mark this milestone, we’re excited to share a compilation of our most impactful stories. Check them out below.
The first couple of years! (2014 to 2016)
Silicon Canals was launched in 2014 to track the Dutch startup ecosystem and deliver updates on the tech startup ecosystem across the Benelux region.
In September 2014, Startup Next, a community of a large group of local volunteers in Amsterdam active in the world of startups, announced the seven selected platform-based startups that participated in its pre-accelerator programme. One of the selected startups was Veylinx, a realistic behavioural insights platform for answering critical business questions.
In February 2015, Ace & Tate secured a deal to open pop-up stores in seven de Bijenkorf locations and raised €700K in funding. The company also planned expansion into Germany, according to founder Mark de Lange.
In May of the same year, Rotterdam-based Bolt announced the launch of its new electric scooter. Bolt also claimed to offer the fastest scooter in the Netherlands. In November of the same year, the photo-sharing app Camarilla was launched. Camarilla allows users to share photos with up to fifteen people, focusing on a close-knit group of immediate family and best friends for a more intimate social experience.
In June 2015, the LOEY Starters Award sought the best-starting entrepreneur in the Netherlands. Twenty entrepreneurs were selected based on growth, innovation, and inspiration.
The following year, in 2016, Utrecht-based Watermelon faced challenges from WhatsApp and Facebook. WhatsApp was reportedly taking measures against Watermelon, including blocking their ads on Facebook and impacting their customer acquisition, possibly due to Watermelon’s rapid growth.
Top stories from between 2017 to 2020!
In March 2017, the Dutch company Picnic raised €100M from some of the country’s wealthiest families, making headlines as a significant funding milestone.
The same year, in May, young Dutch entrepreneur Ruben Portz entered the private jet sector with his Berlin-based startup, JetEight.
Also, in May, we explored the most exciting tech startups from Rotterdam, highlighting those making waves in the Netherlands’ tech scene with impressive funding to fuel their growth.
The following year, in 2018, we highlighted the most groundbreaking Dutch tech startups, Europe’s most valuable tech giants, and key fintech startups to watch.
In February 2019, we covered the fastest-growing tech cities in Europe. By August, we reviewed the top e-scooters in Berlin, including Lime, Circ, Tier, and VOI. In the same month, our founder Remco Janssen got to interview Circ’s COO, Boris Mittermüller, about their upcoming range of shared e-scooters, which was to be released in 2020.
In June 2019, we featured London’s 10 best online food delivery apps.
In September, Apple held its ‘Apple Special Event’, unveiling updates on subscription services and new iPhone models. The event highlighted Apple’s focus on premium subscriptions as a strategy to boost revenue amid declining iPhone sales.
In the same month (September), Swedish fintech firm Northmill challenged traditional banking by securing a banking license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA).
In 2019, we also highlighted nine revolutionary European stock trading app startups transforming the stock market.
Highlights from 2021 to 2023
In April 2021, we listed 10 Amsterdam startups that secured funding in Q1 for expansion and were hiring. By September 2021, Amsterdam-based online supermarket Picnic secured €600M in Series D funding to accelerate growth and sustainability. Recent updates include an additional €355M in funding and achieving its first profit in the Netherlands.
In January 2022, we highlighted exciting career prospects offered by Amsterdam-based unicorns. In the same month, we also identified 24 AI startups in Amsterdam that were actively recruiting.
We continued to track hiring trends into January 2023, featuring unicorns in Amsterdam with open positions. In mid-2023, we expanded our coverage to include the top 10 multinational companies hiring in June, and the 20 best SME companies in July.
The following month, in August 2023, we spotlighted Amsterdam startups that had secured funding in that month and in September, we refreshed the list of hiring opportunities at Amsterdam unicorns.
As we embark on our next decade with Silicon Canals 3.0, we remain committed to delivering the stories that matter most to our readers. Here’s to the next chapter—thank you for being part of our journey.
