On 10 March, the Deeptech AI Investor Matchmaking at AI House Amsterdam connected AI founders and investors to discuss scaling to large funding.

What does it take to go from an early-stage AI startup to closing $100M in funding? At the Deeptech AI Investor Matchmaking Event, Jelle Prins (Cradle.bio) walked a room full of founders and investors through it.

The event brought together around 120 representatives from 50 startups and 20 European investors at the inspiring Prosus AI House in Amsterdam. It was organized by TTT-AI and Amsterdam AI, in collaboration with ROM InWest, StartupAmsterdam, Prosus, and AIC4NL.

At the heart of the event: matchmaking. TTT-AI's early-stage academic spinoffs met investors alongside the scaleups from AIC4NL's Breaking Barriers program. Other Dutch AI startups joined as well. In four rounds of 15-minute 1-on-1 conversations, startups and investors sat across from each other, no slides, no pitch decks, just real conversations. Informal exchanges continued over coffee and networking drinks.

The matchmaking was accompanied by an inspiring speaker program. Jelle Prins, co-founder of Cradle.bio, kicked off with a startup perspective on raising big tickets. Pieter Kemps (Sequoia Capital) followed with the investor's view on scaling and fundraising. The afternoon closed with a lively investor panel moderated by Sebastiaan Vaessen, featuring Chantal Schrijver, Marie Lepske, Johan Stins, Willem-Jeroen Stevens, and Sohrab Hosseini, who debated the pros and cons of raising funding in the Netherlands versus abroad.

Thanks to all speakers, partners, startups, and investors who made this edition one to remember. We're already looking forward to the next one!