Krijn de Nood, Julie Hawkins and Stephanie Klein Nagelvoort-Schuit will speak at the TNW Conference, which will take place on 15 and 16 June in Amsterdam. If you’d like to join the event (and say hello to our editors!), we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the promotional code READ-TNW-25 and receive a 25% discount on your business pass for TNW Conference. See you in Amsterdam!

Renowned university spin-outs such as chip designer Arm in the UK and pioneer in immunotherapy BionNTech in Germany have proven the importance of bringing scientific innovation to real industries. But the road from academia to business is not a bed of roses.

While still in college, I was part of a project that I hoped would put me and my fellow team under the tech startup to watch radar. But my dreams were quickly blinded when I asked the lead professor if he would consider commercializing our tool outside of the university. His answer was short and concise: “It is much too complex.”

With excellent academic institutions, Europe has the potential to become the most attractive spin-out ecosystem in the world, especially in computer science, engineering, life sciences and deep tech.

While the number of spin-outs on the continent has increased over the years, many deep tech startups in particular strong university rootsseems that founders still face significant challenges: from high power requirements And a long spin-out processto securing financing at a later stage and cultivating entrepreneurial skills.

At the TNW Conference, navigating the challenging journey from academia to startup gets the spotlight it deserves. On the first day of the event, a group of leading experts and entrepreneurs will take the stage to discuss the critical steps required to bring academic innovations to market.

These are Krijn de Nood, CEO of Meatable, the pioneering lab-grown meat start-up; Julie Hawkins, General Partner at an early stage UK VC firm Local globe; and Stephanie Klein Nagelvoort-Schuit, VP at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and founder of abcdeSIMan e-learning spin-out company of the Erasmus University Medical Center.

De Nood, Hawkins and Klein Nagelvoort-Schuit will examine success stories of university spin-outs and address some of the key challenges these startups face, such as bridging funding gaps and developing go-to-market strategies.

So if you’re a potential founder wanting to learn more about the unique hurdles associated with college-born ventures and aiming to bring commercial success to your own spin-out, make sure you don’t miss their talk! I know I won’t – and maybe I’ll be inspired to get back into academia.

Navigating the spinout process is one of many startup growth topics that will be explored at the TNW conference. You can find more on the events calendar – and remember: for a 25% discount on corporate passes, use promo code READ-TNW-25.