San Francisco Bay Area Alumni event

The event was themed “The Role of Universities as Innovation Drivers” and aimed to connect Alumni and academic entrepreneurs from leading Dutch universities.

Initiated by Internships in the Valley, this event involved participation of six Dutch universities: Utrecht University, Leiden University, Maastricht University, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam, and VU Amsterdam. This year’s event was particularly unique as it was organised in collaboration with the transformative initiatives of Techleap, the Academic Startup Program and ScaleNL.

The evening commenced with a welcome address by Consul General Dirk Janssen, followed by an opening speech by Jeroen Frietman on behalf of all Dutch research universities. The highlight of the evening was the panel discussion that featured distinguished speakers Arjan Goudsbloom (VU Alumnus & Senior Connector for Deep Tech at Techleap), Victoria Howell (Director of UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology), and Luis Mejia (Senior Licensing Manager at Stanford University Office of Technology Licensing).

Overall, the Holland in the Valley Dutch University Alumni Event was a success with over 70 attendees present! It was an eventful evening where Dutch university Alumni and academic entrepreneurs came together to connect with one another and strengthen engagement within the Dutch community in the Bay Area. 

This event reinforced the importance of Dutch universities as catalysts for innovation and the value of maintaining strong Alumni connections. We’re very excited to see what’s in store for next year’s event!