Your startup needs to meet the criteria mentioned in the program guide, namely a startup with a minimum of two committed co-founders, an innovative technology solution, and to be in the stage of needing to validate your business idea and focus on your problem-solution fit.

All of our programs take place in our incubator in Delft, and some sessions of the AI/Blockchain Validation Lab takes place in our Digital Hub in The Hague. Please mind that during this pandemic, we moved all of our activities – including the programs – online. 

It always depends, but most often it is. If you are a person with an idea and do not have a co-founder or have done any sort of work to push your idea further (eg. try a prototype or research into the idea), then our earliest program (Validation Lab) will not provide you with value at the right time. 

We are a regional tech incubator, with locations in Delft, The Hague, and Rotterdam. Hereby, we can add value with our ecosystem to local startups. Even though our methodology could apply to your stage and could help your startup, our mission is to support the startups with the infrastructure we have here, in The Netherlands.

No. We are happy to welcome startups from all over the world, as long as they are planning to move here, in The Netherlands with a valid reason. In addition, some of our programs (eg. EIT Health Validation Lab) are open European startups, so geographical diversity is only encouraged. (See also answer above)

The Validation Labs have a commitment fee of € 1.250,- (excl. VAT) per team, with the exception of EIT Health Validation Lab which is subsidized by EIT Health. 

By participating in the Validation Lab, you acquire the right skills, receive an extensive toolset & get access to the YES!Delft ecosystem to tackle the biggest challenges you’ll face during the whole lifecycle of your startup. Joining the program allows you to validate your business idea, talking to many customers, and find your Problem-Solution Fit, whilst learning about different aspects of your business, e.g. legal, funding, and team.

The Validation Lab is a 10-week program. The first two weeks are designed to help you understand and select the right market, customer, and problem to solve and build a strong value proposition. In the following weeks, we host sessions with experts and organize deep dives in topics such as Legal & IP, Business Modelling, Team, Finance & Funding and pitching. During the program, you will focus on talking to your customers and getting out of the building to validate your assumptions. Throughout the program, you will be guided and supported by our startup coaches, your mentor, experts, and your peers in the program. 

One of the main reasons startups fail is lack of market demand. Our methodology and tools help you to validate your idea as quickly as possible and reduce uncertainty and risk. We don’t want you to be spending time and money on building startups and products that nobody wants.