Wealth
Erik Boer, CEO of Ace Venture Lab, has voiced his regret that the opening of Venture Lab Humanities has caused such controversy. According to Boer, their intention is not to put students and employees in a position to amass wealth. ‘We asked ourselves: how can we apply academic research within society?’ Boer says researchers could use knowledge gained from Venture Lab Humanities to start a company, but argues that they could also do so in other ways. Educational institution, Bildung Academy will also have their office at Venture Lab. ‘They will apply their knowledge by providing courses.’

Scholarship
‘We acknowledge that the 1000 euro fee may cause difficulties,’ admits Director of Operations Nijsten, who is working with the Amsterdam University Fund to create a fund to provide scholarships for students who want to start an enterprise. Innovation Exchange Amsterdam (IXA) also intends to award scholarships to students and employees with ‘good ideas’. Such a scholarship could accumulate up to ‘a thousand euros,’ Mirjam Leloux, director of the UvA department at IXA says.