Scale-up Connect brings together founders, investors and industry leaders in Delft
How do you turn a promising innovation into a successful company?
That question was at the heart of Scale-up Connect, where founders, investors, industry leaders and ecosystem partners from the offshore, maritime and energy sectors gathered at Buccaneer Delft.
Open conversations about growth and scaling
The programme opened with a founder story by Maxim Segeren (Tree Composites), winner of the KvK Innovation Top 100. His journey highlighted that bringing innovative technology to market requires much more than technical excellence. Market validation, customers, financing and organisational growth all play a vital role.
The founder story was followed by an expert panel featuring Bart Sintenie (Roodhals Capital), Jeroen Rondeel (LION Finance) and Lex Roukens (Board Advisor and former Managing Director of Move Energy). Moderated by Joep Athmer, Senior Management Consultant and former Van Oord, the conversation explored investor readiness, funding strategies and the realities of scaling technical ventures.
Founder Match Circles
A key part of the program consisted of the Founder Match Circles, where founders discussed real growth challenges with investors, industry partners, field labs and knowledge experts.
Topics ranged from market validation and launching customers to fundraising, technology development and sustainable growth. Bringing together different perspectives proved especially valuable. Investors looked at investability and risk, industry partners shared insights on pilots and market adoption, while knowledge institutions and field labs offered expertise, testing opportunities and validation support.
Building connections for future growth
What stood out most throughout the afternoon was the openness of the discussions. Participants openly shared challenges, experiences and ambitions, creating meaningful conversations and new connections.
Because the real impact of events like Scale-up Connect often starts after the event itself. Through follow-up meetings, introductions and collaborations, these conversations can help innovative companies take their next step.
Scale-up Connect was organised by Buccaneer Delft in collaboration with LION Finance, Roodhals Capital en Ondernemersfonds Delft.
