Cooperation between the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and Dotslash: opportunities for students, startups and scale-ups

Connection between education and business

HU students will have the opportunity to work on projects with and for startups and scale-ups at the Dotslash campus at 93 Europalaan. HU will also offer education and training courses for entrepreneurs at Dotslash. In addition, the pop-up Internship and Project Counter, co-facilitated by the U-TECH Community, will provide a platform where companies and students are directly linked. Niels Spronk, community manager at Dotslash, says: ‘Connecting students and entrepreneurs creates a huge source of knowledge and talent. This opens doors for both students and startups & scale-ups.’

Practical solutions with the SME Workshop

An important part of the cooperation is the connection with our SME Workshop, a programme that pairs students from the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and regional MBO institutions with companies. This provides startups and SMEs with support on current challenges, such as digitalisation, marketing and business strategy. Erik Mooij, director of Samen Digitaal at HU: ‘This programme is a good example of how education can contribute to innovation, in this case in the digital field. This collaboration provides startups, scale-ups and SMEs with concrete solutions, while students gain valuable practical experience by directly applying their knowledge.’

Innovation through collaboration

HU and Dotslash embrace the so-called ‘Triple Helix model’ in which education, government and business work closely together to drive innovation and economic growth. Since Dotslash's establishment in 2018, the City of Utrecht has played an important role in creating a dynamic environment where talent and entrepreneurship flourish. Hogeschool Utrecht further enriches this ecosystem, making cooperation between all parties involved even more effective.

About Dotslash

Dotslashhas been located on Europalaan in Utrecht since 2018. The community has now grown from 5,000 to 31,000 m² and has over 200 companies, mostly startups and scale-ups. Dotslash forms a creative and entrepreneurial community in the region where (corporate) partners, investors and entrepreneurs come together to accelerate growth. Dotslash is a concept of BORON, the investment company of the Utrecht entrepreneurial family J.A. Fentener van Vlissingen.

Source: HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (in Dutch).