Starthubs

What Starthubs does

Starthubs, headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, operates an open innovation platform that connects large organizations with concrete business and innovation challenges to a community of more than 40,000 startups, scale-ups, SMEs, and individual innovators. The company originated from Battle of Concepts, launched by founder Joost Dekkers in 2007 as the first crowdsourcing platform in the Netherlands, and has since positioned itself as a specialist in Challenge Based Innovation, facilitating more than 600 challenges with a stated 93% solution-match success rate. The core product is a proprietary challenge management platform that has been developed in-house for over 10 years, supporting submission handling, deadline management, review workflows, and community engagement. The platform is offered through three software tiers: a basic Challenge pagina, a branded Challenge website with custom domain, and a full Challenge platform functioning as an innovation hub. Starthubs also offers specialized challenge modules including Business Challenge, Startup Challenge, Ideation Challenge, Innovation Challenge, and Marktconsultatie.

The company's business model combines annual subscription software packages with professional services such as advisory consulting, campaign promotion, and project management. Distribution is hybrid: direct enterprise field sales targeting large corporates and government agencies, an inside-sales/self-service option for smaller organizations, and a partner/reseller channel through regional development agencies and sector organizations that white-label or co-build branded innovation hubs. Customer segments split across large enterprises and government agencies (Rijkswaterstaat, ProRail, Schiphol, NS, Stedin, Alliander, Philips, Ministerie van VWS, Provincie Utrecht, Gemeente Den Haag, Coca-Cola HBC, National Grid) and the supply side of startups and SMEs participating in challenges. Notable operational footprint includes more than ten sector-specific branded innovation hubs (OV/Connect for public transport, Digital Health Challenge Lab, Sportinnovator, Traiectum NEXT for sport innovation toward LA 2028, Cosun Connect for plant-based solutions, Brave New Food, Samen Anders Slimmer for housing), as well as the SIR Intergov program that won the European Enterprise Promotion Award in 2025.

Name

Starthubs

Legal name

Starthubs

Website

https://starthubs.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Starthubs is a Utrecht-based open innovation platform that runs challenge-based programs connecting Dutch and European enterprises and government agencies with a 40,000+ innovator community to source solutions for operational, sustainability, and policy challenges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Management Software

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSANAHAD

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)

SECONDARYBPAMABAM

Open-Source & Developer Communities

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Social Networks & Online Communities

SECONDARYEDAMAHAA

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Entrepreneurship & Business Enrichment

Keywords

• Open innovation platform
• Challenge management software
• Enterprise innovation challenges
• Startup scouting platform
• Innovation hub software

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Challenge Software & Services: Three-tiered software packages: Challenge pagina (basic), Challenge website (branded), and full Challenge platform (multi-challenge hub). Pricing is quote-based, customized per client requirements. Additional services include advisory consulting, campaign promotion, and 24/7 support.
2. Professional Services: Advisory and consulting services for challenge design, briefing, and execution. Project management included in challenge packages. Bespoke/custom solutions available for organizations with unique requirements.
3. Platform Access: Access to the open innovation platform and community of 40,000+ innovators. Organizations can connect with the community through branded challenge pages or full innovation hubs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Starthubs operates an open innovation platform that connects large organizations with innovation challenges to a community of 40,000+ startups, scale-ups, and SMEs offering solutions. The company sells proprietary challenge management software in three tiers (Challenge pagina, Challenge website, and full Challenge platform) and provides multiple challenge type services — Business Challenge, Startup Challenge, Ideation Challenge, Innovation Challenge, and Marktconsultatie — alongside branded online Innovation Hubs for multi-stakeholder programs.

Product overview

Starthubs operates as an open innovation platform for Challenge Based Innovation, connecting organizations with problems or innovation challenges to a community of 40,000+ startups, scale-ups, and innovators. The platform consists of the core Challenge Platform (for hosting, managing, and reviewing challenge submissions) supplemented by Challenge Software in three tiers (Challenge pagina, Challenge website, and Challenge platform/innovation hub), and multiple challenge type modules including Business Challenge, Startup Challenge, Ideation Challenge, Innovation Challenge, and Marktconsultatie. The software is developed in-house over more than 10 years and supports over 600+ challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Challenge Platform The core open innovation platform connecting organizations with innovation challenges to 40,000+ startups, scale-ups, and innovators. Hosts challenge listings, submission management, and a review system for evaluating pitches. Used by both large enterprise/government challengers and SME/startup solution providers.
• Challenge Software A modular, proprietary challenge management software offered in three tiers: Challenge pagina (a landing page on Starthubs with advisory support and community recruitment), Challenge website (a standalone branded website in the client's house style with a custom domain and tailored promotion campaign), and the full Challenge platform (a multi-challenge innovation hub connecting the organization to 40,000+ innovators via ongoing challenges). Sold as annual subscriptions with 24/7 support on the higher tiers.
• Innovatiehubs (Innovation Hubs) Branded online innovation hub platforms built by Starthubs in partnership with multi-stakeholder organizations, connecting startups, scale-ups, governments, and corporates around themed communities and ongoing challenges. Examples include OV/Connect (public transport), Digital Health Challenge Lab (healthcare), Accelerate in the Netherlands, SiR Intergov (government), Cosun Connect (food/AgTech), and Sportinnovator Challenges.
• Business Challenge A challenge type designed to find proven solutions to specific business problems. Reaches 18,000+ startups and SMEs and delivers 15-30 concrete solutions per challenge, with a 93% success rate reported across more than 600 facilitated challenges.
• Startup Challenge A challenge type scouting innovative startups for new technologies and tools. Reaches 8,000+ entrepreneurs and yields 25-100 startup submissions per challenge.
• Ideation Challenge A challenge type using crowdsourcing to collect innovative ideas and creative concepts. Engages 22,000+ creatives, students, and young professionals, delivering 50-150 concepts per challenge.
• Innovation Challenge An open innovation challenge targeting 40,000+ startups, scale-ups, and SMEs to scout solutions for organizational challenges. Delivers 25-75 submissions per challenge within 12 weeks, with 60% of winning solutions reportedly coming from unexpected sectors.
• Marktconsultatie (Market Consultation) An online market consultation challenge to sharpen and innovate public procurement processes by pre-surveying the market. Gathers knowledge about trends, technologies, and emerging players within 12 weeks.
• Challenge & Opportunity Center A unified, free Challenge & Opportunity Center that aggregates 1,000+ business opportunities — international and national challenges, accelerator programs, subsidies, and innovation missions — designed as a self-service resource for startups, scale-ups, and innovative SMEs to discover opportunities on the Starthubs platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% of organizations find a solution after one challenge
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OV/Connect PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeven leading public transport organizations (EBS, HTM, RET, Transdev, Keolis, NS, ProRail) collaborate on open innovation for public transport improvements through shared challenge platform.
• Digital Health Challenge Lab PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 20 healthcare organizations including Briskr, RadboudUMC, Health Valley, and HAN University collaborate on healthcare innovation challenges in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region.
• Invest in Holland (NFIA)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for Accelerate in the Netherlands program bringing international alternative protein companies to Dutch market with support from DSM-Firmenich and 35+ ecosystem partners.
• Startup in Residence Intergov PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch ministries (EZK, SZW, LNV) and Provincie Zuid-Holland collaborate with startups through the SiR Intergov program for government innovation.
• SportinnovatorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Sportinnovator, ZonMw, and Ministerie van VWS for sport and movement innovation challenges supporting the National Sports Accord.
• Traiectum NEXT PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFive Utrecht sports clubs (FC Utrecht, Kampong, Hellas, UZSC, VVU) with 10,000 members and 1.8M annual visitors serve as testing ground for sports innovations.
• Nederlandse Loterij InnovatielabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation lab for Staatsloterij, TOTO, Krasloten, and Lotto focusing on lottery and wellness innovation challenges.
• Brave New FoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational food sector platform connecting FrieslandCampina, KraftHeinz, PLUS, and Superunie with food innovation startups.
• Cosun ConnectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Cosun's innovation hub for circular plant-based solutions, protein transition, FoodTech, and AgTech projects with partners including Cosun Protein and WUR.
• High Tech Campus EindhovencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Brainport Eindhoven, PSV, and Philips on high-tech open innovation challenges in the Brainport region ecosystem.
• Samen Anders SlimmercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour Amsterdam housing corporations (De Alliantie, Eigen Haard, Woonzorg Nederland, Ymere) collaborate on housing innovation challenges.
• SchipholcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor airport operator running startup and innovation challenges for passenger experience and workplace improvements.
• PhilipscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare technology company running innovation and ideation challenges for sustainable appliance development.
• RijkswaterstaatcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch national water management authority running multiple biobased and circular infrastructure challenges on InnovA58 test site.
• ProRailcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRailway infrastructure manager running circular materials and market consultation challenges.
• Coca-Cola HBCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading beverage company running green logistics, shop floor AI, and transport automation challenges across European markets.
• National GridcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK energy company running carbon data and net zero buildings challenges for decarbonization solutions.
• Erasmus MCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Rotterdam hospital running healthcare innovation challenges.
• Ministerie van VWScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport running energy-neutral sports facilities and health innovation challenges.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brightidea: Innovation management platform offering idea crowdsourcing, innovation challenges, and pipeline management for enterprises. Closely aligned with Starthubs' challenge-based open innovation approach.
• Planbox: Innovation management platform with built-in challenge and idea campaigns. Comparable product functionality and similar customer base of large organizations seeking open innovation.
• HYPE Innovation: German-based innovation management platform providing idea crowdsourcing and challenge programs to enterprises and public-sector clients. Strong comparable given European footprint and government customer base.
• IdeaScale: US-based innovation management software that enables organizations to crowdsource ideas and solutions through challenges. Same dual-sided model of corporates posting challenges and a community contributing submissions.
• HeroX: Crowdsourcing challenge platform focused on prize-based innovation competitions. Comparable two-sided marketplace where organizations post challenges and solvers submit solutions.
• Wazoku: UK-based open innovation and crowdsourcing software platform. Wazoku offers challenge-driven idea and solution management for enterprises, directly comparable to Starthubs' core platform and challenge methodology.
• Qmarkets: Innovation management software suite including idea management, challenges, and open innovation. Direct enterprise competitor with overlapping functionality and similar target buyer profile.

Broad incumbents

• Spigit (Planview): Innovation management module within Planview's broader enterprise portfolio. Offers challenge-based ideation but as part of a wider PPM/work management suite serving large enterprises.

Emerging players

• Startup in Residence (SiR): Government-startup residency program that runs challenge-based procurement for municipalities. Starthubs powers SiR Intergov in the Netherlands; the global SiR network represents a partner-adjacent comparable.
• Innolytics GmbH: European innovation management software offering idea campaigns and challenge modules to mid-market and public-sector organizations. Smaller competitor with partial overlap to Starthubs' offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/starthubs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/starthubs
• Instagraminstagram.com/starthubs.co
• Xx.com/Starthubs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Starthubs