Meet the Startup Award Finalist: Venopi
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After digging into Digital Legacy (data after death…), we’re moving onto Sharing Spaces with Friendly Faces!
Meet the next finalist of TEDxAmsterdamWomen’s Startup Award…
MEET VENOPI — Founded by Ivana Setiawan
- What Venopi Offers -
Venopi is an online marketplace where users can list, browse & book commercial spaces on a short-term basis.
We are creating a network for sharing space that enables local businesses to maximize the usage of their space, while emerging businesses get access to affordable and unique locations that are otherwise unavailable.
By connecting through our online platform, virtually anyone can engage in entrepreneurship with lower thresholds. We want to encourage activities that will benefit innovation, social inclusiveness, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.
Venopi’s mission is to support local businesses and empower entrepreneurs by providing a platform where users can list, browse, and book commercial spaces for short-term use. We want businesses to succeed, because their success is our success.
- How it Started -
I started the company when I experienced the difficulty of finding a location myself. I was looking for a location to shoot a short film with a friend, and we had to search manually. That’s when I realized that there was no platform where users could easily find unique locations in Amsterdam. One weekend, I decided to build a solution myself. I created the MVP in a couple of days and the rest is history.
- Current Challenges -
How to prioritize effectively, say “no” and being willing to let some things slide.
There are a lot of things that are important but not urgent, so there are important things that I need to consciously set aside in order to move the company forward.
Venopi is an entirely self-funded company, so every decision must push the company forward in the most effective way. When facing a decision, I look at the mission statement and think: “Does this decision help me achieve my mission?”
- How to Grow the Company -
At this stage, what’s most valuable to Venopi’s growth is mentorship and advice. We’re a small start-up with an eager and dedicated team. We want to learn as much as possible about our users, validate our product-market fit, and provide a product that meets people’s needs.
Support and network access will help us improve and adapt.
- Goal Setting -
My personal goal is to be as useful to the community as possible. One way that I’m working to achieve this goal is by making Venopi available in other EU countries within 5 years. There are many cities struggling with population growth, increasing density & over consumption of goods — we believe that Venopi could help them solving these problems while also growing their economy.
- Giving Back -
Giving back is an important part of being members of any community. We all have a social responsibility to get involved and give back to the community.
At Venopi, we believe that it is important to give back to the community. That is part of why we do what we do — our belief in the importance of community involvement and engagement.
- The team is involved in Hack Your Future, an organization that teaches computer programming to refugees. Ivana, the founder and CEO of Venopi, teaches classes once a week and Georgia helps develop promotional materials, specifically encouraging women to participate in the program.
- Venopi also supported the CHOICE for Youth & Sexuality boat in the Amsterdam Pride canal parade and our Team volunteered at the Homomonument during Pride 2018. We trust that encouraging our team members to volunteer for causes we believe in can help make a difference.
Thanks, Ivana, for sharing! If you can help & would like to get in contact with the founder of Venopi, contact shahar@amsterdamcapitalweek.com!
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Get to know Venopi better online + read more about Startup Award here.
