Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) will collaborate with YES!Delft in a regional partnership. EUR believes that it can intensify its impact on society by encouraging entrepreneurship. The university’s Executive Board – represented by Rutger Engels – and the board of YES!Delft signed a Letter of Intent on Friday, 21 February, paving the way for EUR’s participation in YES!Delft. YES!Delft’s establishment of a programme in Rotterdam will be one of the initiatives for providing a boost to entrepreneurship among students and staff. This partnership will enhance up-and-running EUR initiatives with YES!Delft’s expertise.
“Signing the Letter of Intent with YES!Delft is a further step in achieving our ambitions. It enables us to combine our own expertise at RSM and the Erasmus Center for Entrepreneurship with YES!Delft’s expertise."
Rutger Engels
Rector magnificus, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Encouraging more entrepreneurship
YES!Delft was established by Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, and the Municipality of Delft. “It’s the most successful incubator in the Netherlands, and its ambitions include further regional expansion. In YES!Delft, we’ve found a robust partner to give an additional boost to entrepreneurship at our university”, says Hans Smits, interim-Chair of EUR’s Executive Board. The partnership will bring the EUR’s Erasmus Center for Entrepreneurship closer to YES!Delft, and their interaction will create opportunities.
Combining business and technology
YES!Delft plays a key role on the Delft University of Technology Campus when it comes to supporting disruptive innovative ecosystems, both locally and at the regional level. “Delft University of Technology is proud of YES!Delft’s success. The university’s spin-offs were able to successfully develop there and over the past few years, multiple companies originating from the Rotterdam region have joined them. Combining our strengths with EUR is a promising next step towards giving entrepreneurship in our region a shot in the arm”, said Executive Board President Tim van der Hagen.
“Successful start-ups always have a high degree of diversity in their founding teams. This partnership will lead to numerous new enterprises built on a foundation that combines the various talents of Delft University of Technology and EUR."
Evert Jaap Lugt
Managing Director Yes!Delft
Incorporating entrepreneurship in education and research
The goal is to give shape to a sustainable partnership, one that generates synergy and benefits all the partners. Encouraging entrepreneurship offers EUR opportunities to strengthen ties with local and global stakeholders and contribute to addressing challenges facing society. One facet of this is social entrepreneurship that engages with society. Engels also stresses that “In this context, entrepreneurship is more than just establishing start-ups. It also means that entrepreneurship must be incorporated in education, for example, and ways have to be found to combine it with research. Creating a strong entrepreneurial mindset among our students and staff plays an important role in this process."