On Tuesday, April 8, over 400 of our ambitious and entrepreneurial students, colleagues and alumni travelled to the NBC in Nieuwegein for the National Finals Day.
During the afternoon programme, our Tourism students as well as those following the Stocks & Bonds and Financial Markets minor, presented their concepts and business plans. With confidence and creativity, they demonstrated how they apply their acquired knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to tackle commercial, sustainable and financial challenges.
Tio Dragons' Den: guts on stage
During the evening programme, the finalists competed against each other in a true Tio Dragons' Den. Students from all campuses and fields of study aimed to convince the five-member jury of experts in a three-minute elevator pitch that their concept was the best. On a spectacular stage they competed for one of the three coveted prizes: the jury prize and two audience awards, with the majority of votes from fellow students and attending alumni determining the winners.
And the winners are ...
- Jury Prize: Sem with Spetter Peter, an innovative water filtration system that is inexpensive and easy to use.
- Audience Award students : Boet with Rocketgear, an all-in-one festival gadget with a cap for a water bottle, earplugs ánd a GPS system.
- Audience Award alumni: Rahul with the Hospitality Academy, a virtual training concept for the global hospitality industry.
Well-known companies in jury
The Dragons panel of entrepreneurial experts included Thijs Verheul (co-founder UnitedWardrobe/Vinted), Camiel Hemminga (Jaarbeurs), Lars van der Wijst (co-founder Cloudpillo), Anne van Dijk (Marcels Green Soap) and Chris Rasker (KANE Watches). And host for the event was Ron Simpson (The Avocado Show).
Our National Final Day 2025 proved once again: Tio students are not only ready for the future, they dare to shape it themselves.