Please tell us more about ACE and why was this started?

ACE is an Amsterdam-based incubator founded in 2013 by the Amsterdam universities to stimulate entrepreneurship among students, researchers and alumni. At ACE Incubator we are passionate about helping startups and scale-ups develop their innovative tech and science-based ideas into successful companies. We offer training & support, and access to an extensive network of mentors, entrepreneurs and business professionals.

Start and Scale: You have a program for startups and scaleups. How is the support different for these two groups?

For startups, we focus on helping them shape their business model, go-to-market strategy and acquire launching customers. We work with a pool of industry mentors and business experts to help them get started.For scale-ups, the challenges are usually different. They need help managing a growing team and company and getting funded. So we offer more in-depth masterclasses and connect them to experienced entrepreneurs and investors.

Entrepreneurship in STEM fields: You have entrepreneurship programs for Math, Logic, Chemistry and Tech (which we think is awesome!). Why do you feel there is a need to explore these subjects today?

A lot of innovation comes from research within these fields. At the Amsterdam Science Park alone, thousands of researchers work on breakthrough technologies every day that have huge market potential. Furthermore, academic careers are very competitive and often PhD’s and Postdocs will look for other career options when they are nearing the end of their research period. This makes it interesting for them to start their own company based on the work that they’ve done.

Bahrain projects: You’ve recently held an event in CH9. Do you have any other projects coming up in Bahrain?

Yes, we were introduced into the wider Bahrain region through our great partner CH9 and provided a two-day workshop on “how to build a strong startup ecosystem” using learnings from Amsterdam. Through our cooperation with CH9 we plan to do more joint projects in the near future. There are more similarities between Bahrain and Amsterdam than one might think at first sight. To start with we will attend the upcoming GEC.

Tips: What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
I would tell starting entrepreneurs:Don’t hesitate – start and try. Work with the team, not on your own. Don’t be afraid to fail – there is no shame in failing but there is in never trying.