Kick-In

What Kick-In does

Kick-In is the official student orientation period of the University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands, organized since 1963 (under the "Kick-In" brand since 2009) by a committee of six senior students operating as a non-profit entity under the university's Student Union. The program serves incoming bachelor, master, premaster, and exchange students through two parallel tracks: an 8-day Bachelor Kick-In and a 6-day Master Kick-In, both run annually in late August. Activities include an Opening Fair, Grand Opening, do-group market, Culture Festival, Sports Games, Kick-Out Party, faculty-specific introductions, and mentorship through do-groups of roughly 8–12 first-year students led by senior student "parents." Revenue is generated entirely from participant registration fees (€87.50 for bachelor, €55 for master, plus faculty-level contributions) collected via the proprietary iDB system.

The underlying technology backbone is the iDB (Introduction Database), a custom web application suite built since 2005 on the Symfony framework, handling participant registration, payments via iDEAL, SOFORT, credit card, and PayPal, crew applications, rostering, and authentication through UT accounts or linked Google accounts. The iDB is maintained by a separate volunteer committee (with members including Bob van de Vijver and Tobias Feijten since 2011/2012). The 2026 program is scheduled for August 19–27 (Bachelor) and August 22–27 (Master), distributed to participants through direct integration with University of Twente admissions.

Name

Kick-In

Legal name

Kick-In Committee

Website

https://kick-in.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kick-In is the official annual orientation event of the University of Twente, run by a six-student committee under the Student Union to onboard incoming bachelor, master, and exchange students through multi-day social and faculty programs funded by participant registration fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Orientation Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Orientation, Welcome Week & Transition Programs (EDALAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

First-Year Experience & Transition Programs (EDALABAE)

Keywords

• Student orientation programs
• University introduction events
• Campus onboarding services
• Student life programs
• Faculty orientation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Enschede

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Participant Registration Fees: Revenue generated from registration fees paid by bachelor, master, premaster and exchange students participating in the Kick-In orientation program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Kick-In is the official student introduction period of the University of Twente, delivering an eight-day Bachelor program and a six-day Master/Premaster/Exchange program for incoming students. The offering combines general orientation activities (Opening Fair, Culture Festival, Sports Games, Kick-Out Party) with faculty-specific study-related programs, social integration via do-groups led by senior student mentors, and a volunteer crew. Registrations, payments, crew applications, and rostering are managed through the custom iDB (Introduction Database) web portal, with the entire program organized by a rotating Kick-In Committee under the University of Twente Student Union.

Product overview

Kick-In is the official student orientation/introduction period of University of Twente, consisting of the Bachelor Kick-In and Master Kick-In programs. The offering is a unified event program rather than a software platform. Supporting infrastructure includes the iDB (Introduction Database), an internal web-based registration and management system that handles participant applications, payments, crew member registration, and rostering. Additional programs include Do-Group Parent mentorship and Crew volunteer programs, all managed through the iDB system. The organization uses Symfony framework and Google account integration for authentication on their iDB platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bachelor Kick-In Annual 8-day official orientation programme for incoming bachelor students at the University of Twente (national and international, including students switching study programmes), combining general activities (Opening Fair, Grand Opening, Do-group Market, Culture Festival, Sports Games, Kick-Out Party) with faculty-specific study-related Kick-In programmes, do-group mentorship by senior students, and crew volunteer support. Registration fee: €87.50 for the general programme with additional contributions per faculty.
• Master Kick-In Annual 6-day separate orientation programme for incoming premaster, master, exchange, and Kies-Op-Maat students at the University of Twente, featuring activities tailored to graduate student needs and including the International Onboarding Market segment. Registration fee: €55 for the general programme with additional faculty-specific contributions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Do-group size of approximately 8-12 first-year students per group, guided by senior student mentors

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• University of Twente Student UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Student Union oversees privacy policy for the Kick-In website and iDB system. The Kick-In Committee operates as part of the Student Union structure at University of Twente.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• ESN (Erasmus Student Network): Largest European student network focused on international student orientation and exchange support. Comparable target segment (international and exchange students, a key cohort for Kick-In's Master program) and student-led delivery model, though it operates at federation scale rather than single-university.
• AEGEE (Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe): European student network organizing orientation and exchange events across many universities. Overlaps with Kick-In on the international student integration mission and student-led delivery model, though operates as a pan-European federation rather than a single university.
• BEST (Board of European Students of Technology): European student organization specifically for technology universities, including University of Twente. Comparable in operating student-led events for tech-university student bodies and providing orientation-style programming, though focused on competition and academic events rather than full orientation weeks.

Direct peers

• HOPE (Erasmus University Rotterdam Introduction): Official orientation program for new students at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Comparable in being the named introduction period for a major Dutch technical/research university, with similar do-group/mentor structures and registration-based revenue.
• EL CID: Official introduction week of Leiden University, a direct Dutch-university orientation peer. Operates a similar multi-day program for incoming bachelor/master students with registration fees, faculty-specific tracks, and student-committee organization model — directly comparable in structure, pricing model, and target audience.
• Intro Week Utrecht University: Student-run introduction period for incoming students at Utrecht University. Closely mirrors Kick-In's operating model: student committee organization, paid registration, multi-day programming with faculty tracks, and mentorship (mentor) groups for first-year integration.

Others

• Symplicity: Provider of student lifecycle and orientation management software for higher education institutions. Adjacent peer relevant to the iDB platform's category — a potential competitor or acquisition target if Kick-In commercialized its technology stack.
• StarRez: Provider of student housing and residence life management software used by universities globally. Comparable as an enabling technology provider for student onboarding and orientation-adjacent workflows — relevant peer for the iDB platform's potential evolution as a SaaS product.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kickin.utwente
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kick-in
• Instagraminstagram.com/kickin.utwente
• TikToktiktok.com/@kickin.utwente

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kick-In