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Dear reader,
After a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a string of wild fires, a war in Europe was the last thing we thought would be added to the list. We’re all shocked by the situation, and our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine. Please follow the latest statements by the Dutch government here.
It offers a sharp contrast to a world that was finally reopening after two years of health restrictions. Last weekend, I opened Flower Bulb Day in San Francisco with local businesses. 100,000 tulips brought flower power to Union Square, bringing some much-needed color, smiles, and people to the heart of the city. Union Square has had a rough two years but thanks to the Dutch flower industry, it bloomed again.
With the last covid-spike hopefully behind us, people are building the meaningful connections that we’ve been missing. The consulate has a busy spring ahead, with three trade missions coming our way, and weekly events, and travels in between.
I look forward to seeing you again
Dirk Janssen,
Consul General
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PS: Want to discuss anything? Please plan a meeting or a call with me or my team.
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- Fast Company writes about Dutch Energiesprong, that makes buildings more sustainable by making retrofits a scalable solution.
- HackerOne and its Dutch co-founder Michiel Prins closed a $49 million investment round. HackerOne mediates between hackers finding security issues and companies keen to fix them.
- The United States is the main foreign job creator in the Netherlands. In 2021, 106 American companies picked the Netherlands to expand their business. This created more than 4,800 jobs in the Netherlands, in sectors such as information technology, life sciences and health, high-tech systems, and creative industries.
- The New York Times writes how the Netherlands uses data and algorithms to improve its Olympic ice skating team.
- BBC News writes about Dutch startup Ocean Grazer, which stores energy from wind farms for maximum results.
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- SeMI Technologies closed a $16 million Series-A round. SeMI Technologies leads in vector databases, a new type of database opening up a new era of AI-first database technologies.
- The Amsterdam-Delta ranks seventh globally in CleanTech and third in Europe. Read more at Startup Genome
- BBC writes about why Schoonschip and other floating homes in the Netherlands may be the solution for sea-level rise and climate change.
- Architectural firm MVRDV will redesign an empty military base in Irvine, Calif., into a cultural hub.
- Bloomberg LP writes about the Dutch approach to traffic safety. "(...) by 2019, the fatality rate in the Netherlands had plummeted to 34 per million, 70% lower than that in the U.S."
- In Fast Company, Ingelou Stol and Arnaud Hubeau of AI Innovation Center Eindhoven write about trustworthy AI.
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These are the 11 ScaleNL startups
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The ScaleNL Accelerator announced the first 11 startups to join the inaugural 12-week coaching program and accelerator, providing each company with unparalleled ecosystem support for scaling to the American market.
With over 130 applications from Dutch Scaleups, the winning companies were selected based on their innovative strength, team, and potential success in the American market.
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Flower Bulb Day in San Francisco
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The United States is the largest destination for Dutch flower bulbs. One billion bulbs are exported annually to the US, where they grow into the beautiful flowers you can buy in your grocery store.
On Flower Bulb Day, San Francisco looked like a Dutch flower field. More than 100,000 tulips covered Union Square and 8500 people walked through the colorful maze to create a free bouquet. The Dutch flower industry, Royal Anthos and iBulb, organized the event, connecting the United States with Dutch horticulture.
Consul General Dirk Janssen opened the event, together with local businesses. The past two years were hard for Union Square but this time downtown San Francisco bloomed again: "Without Union Square there is no San Francisco."
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Aftermovie of Flower Bulb Day 2022
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International Women's Day
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The Dutch diplomatic network in the US celebrated International Women’s Day with a virtual roundtable, “Women Entrepreneurship across the Atlantic: Dutch-American Perspectives.” Karin Orsel, CEO of MF Shipping Group, was the keynote speaker.
Other speakers included: Christina Caljé, co-founder Autheos; Willemijn Schneyder, CEO SwipeGuide; Mei Ling Tan, CEO Superflow and CEO House of Einstein and Selma Baouch, partner Taylor Wessing
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- Our consular officer renewed passports of Dutch nationals in Hawaii. By bringing our passport service to them, dozens of people didn’t have to fly five hours, saving money and CO2.
- The mobile passport station will travel to Los Angeles and San Diego late this spring.
- Our office in San Francisco is back at regular hours, offering appointments 5 days a week. Make an appointment here.
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Ben Feringa Lecture 2022 by Beatrice de Graaf
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Professor Beatrice de Graaf of Utrecht University presented the Ben Feringa Lecture 2022. In her lecture she focused on historical and current geopolitical challenges and security threats. After her lecture she discussed this topic with political scientist Professor Martha Crenshaw of Stanford University and moderator Dr. Chris van der Borgh of Utrecht University.
The Ben Feringa Lecture is organized by Universities of the Netherlands, University of Groningen and Holland in the Valley to build an academic bridge between Silicon Valley and the Netherlands. It is named after Nobel Prize winner Professor Ben Feringa of University of Groningen.
- Rewatch the lecture below:
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Ben Feringa Lecture 2022 by Beatrice de Graaf
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Cultural events with Dutch artists on the West Coast. Find more events at Dutch Culture USA.
SoCal
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Alaska
West Coast
- Andre Rieu - multiple concerts in Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, LA, Bay Area, Portland, Tacoma (March 16-24)
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- The Dutch School Silicon Valley is looking for a part time teacher for their Palo Alto location. You can find the vacancy here.
- King's Day 2022 will be celebrated in real life! In San Francisco on April 30th, in Los Angeles May 1st,
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