Anson and Karsten at the AIC4NL Startup Community Event

Last week, our colleagues Anson van Rooij and Karsten Koelewijn joined the AIC4NL Startup Community Event at AI House Amsterdam. A day well spent.

As a partner in the Breaking Barriers programme, we were there not just to observe, but to contribute. The morning featured progress presentations from AI startups in the programme. Inspiring to see these teams building boldly in a challenging environment.

The afternoon brought sharp perspectives from Sebastiaan Vaessen on the state of AI in Europe and from Willem Jonker on the Dutch AI ecosystem. Both talks reinforced something we see in our own practice every day: the opportunity is real, but so is the complexity.

During the roundtable sessions, Anson and Karsten connected with early-stage AI founders navigating some of that complexity, particularly around IP. Because when you’re building something new and moving fast, protecting what you create matters from day one.

Proud to be part of a community that takes responsible AI innovation seriously. Looking forward to what the next chapter of Breaking Barriers brings.