𝗡𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽, 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝗽: 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 "𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵—𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.” – Sabine Biesheuvel (co-founder & director BlueCity and co-initiator Circular Factory) Last week, Circular Factory and Groene Chemie, Nieuwe Economie (GCNE) hosted a packed house—entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers alike—for an afternoon dedicated to the stories we rarely hear. Four speakers from our circular ecosystem recounted their toughest moments in scaling First-of-a-Kind (#FOAK) factories, sharing challenges from miscommunication over plant designs to energy costs and financing structures that couldn’t hold. It was a break from pitching, an afternoon of raw and vulnerable stories about the reality of working on and in a capex heavy scaleup. The stories that are often hard to tell, especially when you have poured your soul into building something truly circular, only to see it unravel. But as speaker Bas Jürgens reminded us: “No fuckup, no scale-up. A big thank you to our speakers Corjan van den Berg, Jan Henk Wijma, Kirsten Herben-Steinbusch and Bas Jürgens for their courage, honesty and willingness to share. This event was about more than storytelling. While there was laughter and head-shaking, there was also space for vulnerability, curiosity and mutual learning. As recent closures of circular factories in the Netherlands show, circular startups face unique pressures from linear competitors, funding gaps and complex infrastructure needs. By sharing both setbacks and successes, we can help them (and each other!) navigate these challenges and make this pioneering road less lonely - and help enablers, from funders to policymakers, understand what it truly takes to build the factories of the future. Sabine Biesheuvel, Lindy Hensen, Bart van den Heuvel, Angelique Erkenbosch, Luuk Hammecher Guus Meijer, Veerle Voesten, Anouk van Weert, Tekkoo, Groene Chemie, Nieuwe Economie, Gemeente Rotterdam revyve DAB.bio Protix 📸 Jacqueline Fuijkschot
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