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Starting your own business in the Netherlands as Expats

Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you were your own boss? Starting your own company can be hard but it is definitely an exciting experience, but it gets harder when you are to do it in a new country, a place which you are totally unfamiliar with. Join the workshop and learn about the story about two young entrepreneurs from Sri Lanka that did exactly that, with the help of startup incubator YES!Delft.

Bhagya and Jaikishen are two young business entrepreneurs from Sri Lanka who met each other 12 years ago but lost contact after pursuing their higher education in leading global universities. On their return to Sri Lanka, they both realized that they wanted to make a difference and to create opportunities for the Sri Lankan workforce and contribute to its economy. But how?
 
On return to Sri Lanka 6 years ago, Bhagya entered the F&B tech industry to start an online unbiased restaurant review blog called Yamu. Although Yamu was doing well, Bhagya and his team were ambitious and wanted to do more. This led to Yamu being acquired in early 2018 by Sri Lanka’s ‘Uber’.
 
Whilst working for their other startups, Jaikishen and Bhagya would meet after work (7pm to 1am) and on the weekends to discuss, conceptualize and plan the Urbandine product and strategy. During this period, they both realized that Urbandine would not fit in Sri Lanka. Even though numerous advisors urged them to consider trying it out in their local market, Bhagya and Jay were determined to first discover where Urbandine would fit best.
In December 2018, Jaikishen visited the Netherlands to validate market fit, meet with facilitators for assistance in setting a strong foundation and get startup visas. Within a month of Jay’s return, Bhagya resigned from his job, and traveled to the Netherlands to pitch Urbandine to YES!Delft and attain a startup visa through the RVO and The Hague Business Agency.  For the next three months, Bhagya stayed in multiple Airbnb’s in The Hague until he was able to find a place of his own.
 
Within the first two quarters of 2019, Urbandine was incorporated, validated product-market fit, identified and began pilots in their beachhead market of beach clubs, raised initial funding on a convertible note with a selection of smart Dutch investors and began growing their team. And now ready to take Urbandine to its full potential through Europe.
 

TIME: 15:00 – 15:30

LOCATION: UPSTAIRS MEETING ROOMS

 

CLICK TO REGISTER

 

 

 

Jay & Bhagya are Sri Lankan co-founders of the Dutch start-up Urbandine – an intelligent mobile ordering & payment platform to help customers order drinks faster at bars, cafes and beach clubs in Europe.

They are ambitious and passionate entrepreneurs willing to go the extra ten miles to make a difference in this world. Leaving their families, friends and pets behind was a challenge but they are both aware and ready for the exciting mission that lies ahead of them.

 

 

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