On Thursday 2 July, the twelfth edition of the Gerard & Anton Awards ceremony took place at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven. These awards are named after Gerard and Anton Philips, the founders of Eindhoven’s tech industry, and are presented to the 10 most promising startups in the Brainport region. These 10 winners were selected from a pool of approximately 120 young, innovative high-tech companies with exceptional potential and a commitment to finding solutions to pressing problems. The goal is to connect generations of entrepreneurs and strengthen the regional ecosystem.

V.O., which has had an office at the High Tech Campus since 2006, is actively involved as a jury member in selecting the winning startups. In addition, all winners receive a voucher from our firm for a number of consulting hours in the fields of patents, trademarks, or legal matters. For early-stage entrepreneurs in particular, becoming aware of the potential value of IP at an early stage is of considerable commercial and strategic importance.

We warmly congratulate the 10 award winners and wish them—as well as all the other startups that competed for these outstanding awards—a future in which their innovations can play a groundbreaking role

At the Grand Final of the TU Delft Impact Contest 2026, BioDetect Diapers won both the Dutch University Challenge NL Award and the V.O. Award. These awards provide valuable momentum for the team to continue developing its technology and to explore opportunities for protecting its intellectual property.

During the competition, the BioDetect Diapers team developed an innovative solution for incontinence, specifically designed to enable the early detection of urinary tract infections in elderly care. In addition to building their prototype, the team gained valuable insights into entrepreneurship, healthcare innovation, and start-up development through coaching, expert feedback, and discussions with fellow entrepreneurs.

Since 2019, the TU Delft Impact Contest has encouraged students from all levels and disciplines at TU Delft to think outside the box and develop innovative solutions to societal challenges, translating their ideas into real products and viable business plans.

Dutch 4TU Impact Challenge 

The TU Delft Impact Contest format has also been adopted for similar competitions at the Universities of Twente, Wageningen, and Eindhoven. Winning teams from these competitions will have the opportunity to participate in the Dutch 4TU Impact Challenge in the fourth quarter of 2026.

V.O. congratulates the BioDetect Diapers team on this well-deserved recognition and sincerely hopes that their innovation will ultimately make a valuable contribution to healthcare.

During the annual “Attorneys Day” organized by V.O. on July 2, Chairman Bernard Ledeboer presented diplomas to mark the successful completion of the first phase of the in-house training program for patent attorneys. In the charming setting of Sandenburg Castle in Langebroek, Utrecht, Tjeerd Fokkens, Emma Roux, and Mees van Vondelen received their diplomas after each had delivered an inspiring pitch to the partner group. A wonderful and well-deserved milestone on the path to a promising future!