From hype to structural impact
“Digitalisation is a transition that has been ongoing for a long time, but with the emergence of AI, we are seeing a strong acceleration again,” states Jorn. “AI has now proven that it is not a hype but a long-term trend. Also, many people harboured the fear that they would lose their jobs to AI in the short term. In practice, it hasn't happened that quickly in the end. But things are definitely changing. I now see companies replacing entire teams with an AI tool. For a long time, that wasn't possible because there were still too many errors. But the improvements have been extremely rapid. With an ageing population, the need for such solutions is great. In certain roles, such as knowledge workers and service-oriented functions like customer contact centre employees, you see that AI is performing the work better than humans in some cases. These AI tools can potentially lead to a strong increase in labour productivity and thus also to an improvement in the earning capacity for our society.”
Boom effect
ROM InWest supports North Holland businesses that increase labour productivity through digitalisation. We focus on B2B startups in AI, Internet of Things and quantum computing. The choice of these domains is strategic, according to Gijs. “We are focusing on initiatives that directly contribute to labour productivity, earning potential and technological independence.” He emphasises that it is not about copying existing solutions, but about being distinctive: “Startups must come with a unique proposition and a sustainable competitive advantage. We focus on innovative digital solutions that are scalable and help other companies to work more efficiently. So, technology that has a leverage effect within the economy. This ensures that earning potential in our region increases.”
This is how it works in practice
Here are various examples. Jorn is happy to highlight one: Typetone.ai. “They have developed an AI agent that functions as a digital content marketer. This allows even smaller companies, without large marketing budgets, to participate in digital marketing at a high level. This strengthens their competitive position. From a business development perspective, we guided Typetone.ai to become investable, including by refining their proposition and market validation. And successfully, as the company subsequently managed to raise millions.” Gijs adds: “We recently achieved a successful exit with Alleo. This company has an HR platform that can use AI to assemble a tailor-made benefits package for an individual employee, optimising the total income of an employee through smart use of fiscal and collective benefits. Here too, leverage plays a part: thanks to this tool, smaller companies without an HR department can offer their employees the advantage of good benefits. ROM InWest invested as an early-stage investor; Alleo had only been in existence for a year at the time. Our investment helped them convince other investors too. Alleo was then able to grow enormously and has now been acquired by another party.”
Investing where the market still dares not
Quantum computing is seen as the AI of tomorrow, which will have a big impact in the future. These innovations hold enormous potential, but according to Jorn, often lack the market traction needed for investors: “We see technologies that are strategically crucial, but not yet investable because they are too early in their development. Within our mandate, we at ROM InWest try to step in where the market dares not yet tread. Nevertheless, across the entire market, we see a tension between long-term ambitions and short-term investment criteria. A company like Fermionic They've managed to solve this cleverly. They were among the first to write software for quantum computers. Since there isn't a quantum computer yet, we worked with them on a one-on-one basis to see how they could already target a market for their technology. In doing so, they discovered they have a superb solution for highly complex calculations in the engineering sector that saves a lot of computing power. Because they've found traction in a different market, Fermioniq is potentially fundable. This illustrates that there are often alternative routes, as long as there is focus.”
Want to know more about our guidance?
Every Thursday between 1 PM and 2 PM, Jorn is available to answer questions about how ROM InWest's business developers support entrepreneurs in North Holland. Sign up with Jorn and you will receive a Teams invitation.
