Last week, Graduate Entrepreneur was proud to be part of the Entrepreneurship Festival, the closing event of O2LAB Rotterdam, an inspiring initiative that highlights and celebrates Erasmus University's role in entrepreneurship. We were honoured to welcome Her Majesty Queen Máxima, attending in her role as a member of the Dutch Committee for Entrepreneurship. 
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During the opening, our founder Michiel Muller joined a panel with Dimiti Verzijl (Albeda), Lisanne Bouten (HZ University of Applied Sciences), and Selim Tuncyurek (CareerSkills), moderated by Farshida Zafar (Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship). Together, they reflected on how the educational ecosystem can better support young entrepreneurs, openly discussing what isn’t working today, and where the biggest opportunities lie. 

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We were proud to see our student board member Louis Euverink and portfolio founder Sara Okhuijssen take part in a roundtable discussion with Her Majesty, Mayor Carola Schouten, Commissioner of the King Wouter Kolff, and Erwin Nijsse, highlighting the entrepreneurial energy and innovation coming from Rotterdam’s student community. 

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In the afternoon, we hosted the track “University to Unicorn”, showcasing the full journey of entrepreneurship: 
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• It started with pitches from the winners of the Erasmus University Challenge, representing the earliest stages of startup life. 
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• This was followed by a panel with Emma Wolthuizen (Eddy Grid) and Peter-Paul Laarhuis (Carbon Neutral Initiative), discussing what it takes to scale and create meaningful impact. 
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• To close, Pieter Zwart, founder and CEO of Coolblue, joined for a Q&A about building Coolblue from scratch, the lessons learned, and his perspective on the next unicorn opportunities. 

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We’re always inspired by the drive and ambition of the next generation. Events like this remind us how essential it is to build a strong, connected ecosystem of students, founders, educators, and early-stage investors. 

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We’re proud to play a part in that journey!

 
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship Erasmus University Challenge Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University 

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