Participants in the first track include Toelevering Online, Flexiramics, Flawless Workflow and Technology Base-based Dynteq. GROW helps these ‘high potentials’ to advance to minimum sales of 10 million or more a year through targeted growth plans, coaching by experienced business mentors and a community of like-minded people. A second group of companies will start after the summer. 

Twente has been known for its innovative strength and inspired entrepreneurship for decades. The many startups that emerge every year are paragons of this. But the growth capacity of these companies is still an issue. International research shows that only 4% of startups grow to an annual turnover of more than EUR 1 million, a meagre 0.4% of entrepreneurs manage to achieve an annual turnover of EUR 10 million. To stimulate such growth, Novel-T, in collaboration with Twente Board and Ondernemend Twente, created the GROW programme. 

Economic importance

Having Twente companies grow to a turnover of at least 10 million euros per year is of great economic importance for the region, Novel-T CEO Jaap Beernink believes. ‘It is important to develop new innovations, validate business ideas and help entrepreneurs start their businesses. We already do this well in Twente too, but the challenge lies in growth. The fact that so few companies continue to grow has to do with a combination of external and internal factors. In addition to market potential and financing, a number of internal barriers to growth need to be organised significantly differently in order to grow to this stage. If we can encourage and facilitate this, we will ensure more and lasting employment in the region in the future. That is what the GROW programme should contribute to.’

The programme

The programme by Novel-T, Ondernemend Twente and the Twente Board is therefore aimed at companies with at least one million in turnover and strong growth potential. Over a six-month period, participants go through three phases in which they deal with themes together with experts and implement them in their business operations. They do so with a coach at their side who ensures that the objectives are realised. In addition, the companies get access to an expert pool, from which they can hire best specialists and experts to solve specific growth issues. ‘Apart from the content, we and our partners also think it is important to use the GROW programme to inspire other entrepreneurs and residents in Twente about the wonderful companies that are created and growing here. A campaign will therefore also be organised around the programme to showcase these growth companies in Twente,’ Beernink said.

Nothing as challenging as growth

One such company that has already participated in a precursor to the GROW programme was Akyla. ‘There is nothing as challenging as growth,’ knows founder and CEO Martin Schievink. ‘And when you are in the middle of that as an entrepreneur, it is immensely valuable to have a coach or expert who asks sincere questions, makes you think with critical feedback and can warn you about the pitfalls that you no longer see yourself as an entrepreneur. In any case, it gave us the ability to start looking, thinking, acting differently and successfully tackle the real challenges that lay ahead and achieve further growth as a company.’

Positively critical

The four companies will start the growth programme on 1 June. In the selection process prior, the participants all completed a special scan with the aim of getting to the bottom of their business. ‘In this, it is important for us to be positively critical. A company participating in this programme must itself be motivated to grow and have a certain reflective capacity. After all, the actual growth must be realised by the entrepreneurs themselves. With the specific support in the new GROW programme, we expect to realise a significant growth acceleration at these companies,’ Beernink said.