During the second edition of H2Kenniscafé, Martin Landkroon will take visitors along in the opportunities and bottlenecks in financing sustainable initiatives. Among other things, the case of Blue Marble Charging will be discussed, an innovative company in the field of smart charging stations and associated software.
Martin Landkroon has held management and executive positions at Van Lanschot Bankiers and Rabobank and currently works as a senior advisor to the Entrepreneurship Team at KplusV. He is also chairman of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Financing Table and project manager of the EU Generation-E programme to scale companies in sustainable energy.
The Netherlands has a healthy startup and scale-up climate. Landkroon sees a lot of dynamism and initiatives. “You can find them in abundance, especially in university cities. But entrepreneurship means taking risks, and that certainly applies to startups. “Roughly speaking, you can say that only 10% of the initiatives survive the startup phase. This often has to do with the lack of a clear, structured growth plan. Too often there is a growth plan, but it is in the entrepreneur's head. Or a startup has more founding partners who all have a different plan in mind.”
Even if a company survives the start-up phase, the course is not yet set. “The idea is often that the rest will follow automatically. Unfortunately! Research by Erasmus University shows that only a few scale-ups really grow. You need at least 20% annual turnover or personnel growth during the first three years. Not all companies succeed in that.”
Especially between the fifth and eighth year, things often go wrong, Landkroon notes. “The existing leadership no longer matches the new phase the company is entering. The business operations simply become too complex, a small team has to pull too many strings at the same time. During the H2 Knowledge Café, I take the visitors through these growth phases using the 'scale-up monitor' of the Erasmus University.”
Small businesses, start-ups and innovative businesses have a relatively high need for financing to be able to pay for their growth and innovation plans. But they are the ones who have difficulty finding that financing. To prevent sustainability from being delayed, it is important to bring innovations to the market as quickly as possible. “Don’t get stuck in continuous technical perfection. Good is good enough.
At the same time, it is essential that the entrepreneur puts his growth plans on paper clearly and in a structured way. "So that you can gain the trust of financiers. Do not wait until your financial resources are in danger of running out; take action much sooner. A financing trajectory can easily take 3 to 9 months.
“Also consider what type of financing your company needs. Each development phase requires a different type of financier or a different mix of financiers. Many public financiers are also only prepared to invest if there is private co-financing.”
During H2 Knowledge Café, Martin introduces visitors to BlueMarble Charging by brothers Robert and Martijn van de Vegte. They are making good progress with an integral solution for the transition to e-mobility. In order to gain the trust of financiers and to guide growth in the right direction, BlueMarble has sought affiliation with the European Generation E: programScale-ups receive advice and support from knowledge partners affiliated with the program.
“Hands-on help, all very practical. If you need an export document, there is an experienced lawyer within the program who will help you with this. By growing in a controlled manner with Generation E, BlueMarble has paved the way to a mix of financing. What we call a pizza financing.”
Private financiers are reluctant to invest in green hydrogen projects. The government can play a role in costs gap compared to fossil fuels. But for green hydrogen innovation, this should not be the only alternative. Landkroon sees great opportunities for raising funding in places that entrepreneurs usually do not immediately think of. “Shall I throw a stone in the pond? Why not seek cooperation with fossil oil and gas companies as a sustainable scale-up?
“They have the resources and infrastructure that they like to reuse and benefit from the reputational advantage that comes from investing in sustainable innovation. This collaboration creates financial space and reduces growth risks, so that it is easy for institutional investors to step in afterwards.”
Could you use some help financing your hydrogen ambitions?
Then come to the H2 Knowledge Café 'The financial picture', Thursday 16 November from 5 to 7 pm.
The H2 Knowledge Café is an initiative from the WaterstofNHN community. The intention is that we organize small-scale meetings every two months where members share and pass on knowledge and experiences in a relaxed atmosphere. Get in touch with other members of the WaterstofNHN community. Talk to each other, exchange ideas and come to concrete solutions and initiatives together!
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