25 apr Recap: Logistics & Fintech Meetup Series, 20 April
On Thursday April 20th, logistics & fintech were united again for the second Meetup in our on-going series, this time hosted by Circular Valley in Hoofddorp. Speakers from Quicargo and Boozt24 joined to present their innovative solutions to an enthusiastic audience. Our guests were also given a sneak preview of the exploratory research we’ve been conducting as part of this initiative.
This past Thursday, April 20th the Logistics & Fintech initiative held the second Meetup in our programme. The event was hosted by Circular Valley at the Circular EXPO, a unique and spacious barn innovation lab and event location in Hoofddorp, just minutes away from Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport. Speakers from Quicargo and Boozt24 were in attendance to pitch their solutions to a group that included quite a few logistics professionals, as well as fintech enthusiasts.
The event was kicked off with an introduction from Holland FinTech founder Don Ginsel. He gave our attendees insightful perspective into Holland FinTech’s aims for this collaborative programme with Dinalog. During his presentation, Don introduced the framework model that has been proposed for exploring the relationship between the logistics and fintech ecosystems, which is also pictured below. Considering the knowledge-sharing objective underlining this logistics & fintech initiative, a moment was taken to engage attendees, who were given the opportunity to offer their own input.
After his introduction, Don passed the floor to our first speaker, and host Guido Braam, of the Circular EXPO & Circular Valley. Guido’s presentation was all introduced the concept of the Circular Economy within the logistics and fintech context. Circular Valley is the name of the circular economy-focussed business innovation lab located at the Circular EXPO. The Netherlands is aiming for innovation at all levels, and a more collaborative, circular economy embodies this notion. Circular Valley is part of a collaborative initiative by Delta Development Group and several other Dutch parties and groups, including partner Rabobank, and others.
Next to take the floor was Quicargo CEO & co-founder Avishai Trabelsi. Quicargo’s motto fitting is ‘No more empty runs.’ This Amsterdam-based start-up offers an innovative online marketplace that connects businesses to trucks with empty space available in real-time, which enables shippers and carriers to benefit from any unutilised truck loading spaces. In Europe, approximately six million trucks make more than two billion deliveries per year, however, 30% of these six million trucks end up moving around the continent with an empty load. That is why Quicargo has created a solution that reimagines the supply chain as ‘hands free.’
Boozt24 Founder Florus van Herpt gave the final pitch of the afternoon. Booz24 is an Amsterdam-based company that provides liquidity in the supply chain by offering SMEs an alternative to typical bank overdraft facilities. Boozt24 offers a solutios to the working capital issues that many small and medium sized businesses face. Banks are less willing to provide credit to SMEs, but Boozt24 believes that the financing potential a company should be based on its achievements today, as well as its future potential. Using advanced credit risk algorithms, Boozt24 is able to measure the ‘value’ of a company’s invoices in real-time, or as they put it ‘fast forward financing!’
After Boozt24’s presentation, Don Ginsel took the floor once again to round off the event, and to give attendees a sneak preview of the exploratory research that Holland FinTech and Dinalog have been conducting over the past months. The news was officially announced yesterday, and we also published a summary of our findings so far. Take a look at the Research page to learn more.
We finalised the presentations with networking and drinks. Thanks again to Circular EXPO for hosting, and to our speakers from Circular Valley, Quicargo, and Booz24 for your presentations.
To see event photos, click here:
Stay tuned to our events calendar for our upcoming (free!) knowledge-sharing events & Meetups.