As I step into my second week at the health valley in Nijmegen, Holland, I am getting even more excited about being around the most forward thinking digital startups gathered from all over the world, reshaping the healthcare system of the future.
Netherlands is home to a vibrant, collaborative startup ecosystem that ranks No. 1 in the European Union for its business climate, according to the European Digital Forum’s 2016 Startup Nation Scoreboard. It is home to more than 10 leading innovation hubs where startups benefit from world-class incubators and R&D facilities.
Rockstart, one of the country’s most prominent accelerator, the Health Valley of Europe, is located at the Novio Tech Campus, a 10000 m2 state-of-the-art research infrastructure in Nijmegen. This is where my host entrepreneur, Geta Rasciuc, is building her business – BabyMoon. Geta and her team are making a revolutionary baby carrier. The design is inspired from the traditional Asian Mei Tai but integrated with a modern bio-monitoring digital system that sends data, regarding the baby’s vital signs,
directly to the parent’s’ mobile phone. Cool, isn’t it?
It’s only a short time that I’ve been here, but I already know that this three month exchange is going to open up new horizons for me as a new entrepreneur and also as a human being. I’m discovering every day new, better ways to create, work and live by.
My marketing background and my success in growing an active online community, for the social media channels of my own business, motivated me to start with contributing to widening the social media presence for BabyMoon.
Even though our products and market segments are different, it is not difficult to connect the dots as both me and Geta have the same view about building a socially responsible and ethical business. Moreover, I am lucky enough to share office space with a colorful crowd of visionary entrepreneurs from all four corners of the world. They were hand-picked by the Rockstart team and they are all open to share their wisdom gathered along the way. Also, as an icebreaker and getting to know one another, in my first weekend in Holland, me and Geta’s family visited Hague – the international city of peace and justice. Hague happened to be the place where I got to visit one of the leather workshops from de Pier Scheveningen.
These first weeks of exchange in the Netherlands reminded me that in the world of communication and information technology, being open to learn from real life experiences and having around inspiring people who follow their vision is still the best way to step up and become a better person, professional and community member.
