In 2026, the Day of the Entrepreneur in the Netherlands takes place on Fri 20 Nov and this is the day that innovative talent will take the stage in Leiden. A total of 10 promising startups, backed by 5 incubators from across the country, will compete in the PLNT Pitch Battle. One startup competing is from the Dutch business incubation programme of the European Space Agency (ESA BIC Noordwijk), which is managed by SBIC Noordwijk. Hear from Corné van der Sande, the CEO of Earthexplorer, about empowering governments to use remote sensing information for monitoring agriculture and water practices. You can already join in the public vote and register to attend. Who will win the top prize? Join the event to find out
View full event details via the PLNT Leiden website
Celebrating entrepreneurship
A day dedicated to celebrating entrepreneurship and putting entrepreneurs and their businesses in the spotlight is what the annual Dutch Dag van de Ondernemer is all about and, this year, it takes place on 20 Nov. This is an initiative of MKB-Nederland, the Dutch association for small and medium-sized enterprises, on the occasion of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Pitch battle at PLNT
The event at PLNT will celebrate the Day of the Entrepreneur in style! This initiative will be interesting for those startups being featured on the stage, as well as anyone wanting to discover the innovative and impactful talent from across the country. The evening will be full of inspiring ideas, fast-paced pitches and valuable encounters with co-founders, incubators, investors and ecosystem builders.
What to expect:
- Live Startup Pitches: The founders of selected startups from across the country will take the stage and pitch their innovation in a maximum of 3 minutes.
- Three Award Categories: The pitches will be judged on best pitch, innovation and impact. Who will take home the coveted prizes?
- Networking Reception: Meet like-minded individuals, exchange experiences and strengthen bonds within the Dutch startup ecosystem while enjoying food and drinks.
Agenda:
- 17:00 Doors open & welcome
- 17:30 Pitch battle commences
- 18:30 Award ceremony & networking
- 20:00 End of event
About the SBIC Noordwijk entry in the line-up: Earthexplorer empowers governments with a sovereign, open-core platform to monitor agriculture and water use from space. The company delivers portals to monitor agricultural parcels nationwide with a focus on ground truth gathering and algorithm validation. Its platform helps decision-makers tackle the water crisis and build climate-resilient agriculture. The company joined ESA’s business incubation programme at ESA BIC Noordwijk in July 2026. Discover more
Public vote: Cast your vote in the run-up to the event!
As well as the judging panel who will make the decision on the night, throughout November there is a public vote giving anyone who wishes the opportunity to make their own selection. Prior to the event, PLNT will highlight the participating startups and their incubators via social media and you can already hear about the startups’ innovations on the website. Don’t delay in watching their 30-second video pitches and vote for your favourite!
This is an edited version of the event info on the PLNT website
Discover which startups from the ESA BIC Noordwijk programme utilise space data:
Read articles about the current incubatees being supported by ESA and NLSA.
