"I think it would be great to literally bring these and other technology companies to the city centre, where they can explain on a central stage what they do with their chips, who develops the latest breast cancer medicine or where the world's largest emission-free forklift trucks are invented." - Dick Bos
Since Dick Bos has been coaching starting entrepreneurs as founder of StartUp Nijmegen (2016), he has noticed that they often do not know who their target group is, where to find customers and how to sell their products. As a result, fifty per cent of them quits their business after five years. "With POP HUB, we are partly responding to this phenomenon," says Bos about his latest initiative. "As a starter you present your new product or service to a large and diverse audience, in fact all potential buyers".
Established names
Bos does not yet know exactly what to see and do at POP HUB in the Nijmeegse Marikenstraat. "I also want to approach established names such as NXP, Ampleon and Nexperia; companies that normally only exhibit innovations at international trade fairs. I think it would be great to literally bring these and other technology companies to the city where they can explain on a central stage what they're doing with their chips, who develops the latest breast cancer medicine or where the world's largest emission-free forklift trucks are invented. I also want to showcase patents of Nijmegen scientists looking for a market."
Local cooperation
Still, selling is not the main goal in 'the museum shop 2.0', but rather a pleasant side effect. Bos: "In POP HUB, visitors are introduced to innovations by companies they don't know, or only know by name, through random encounters. Some people go for a round of hearing, seeing, testing and tasting. Others may unexpectedly run into a product that they were not looking for, but that is useful for their own organisation. Which can be the start of a new collaboration. Whatever the case, POP HUB provides interaction that will give everyone a lot of fun".
>> This article was written by our partner The Economic Board.
