The Student Entrepreneurship Voucher (formerly called DE Startup Voucher) is a grant of maximum €2.500,-, offered by Delft Enterprises and YES!Delft Students, to help TU Delft students turn their ideas into business. The grant does not have to be repaid when spent for its intended purpose as described below.

Purpose

The Student Entrepreneurship Voucher is intended to give entrepreneurial minded TU Delft students the opportunity to cover the first costs of developing an innovative idea into a business proposition. With the Voucher the TU Delft hopes to support in kickstarting its students’ entrepreneurial journey.

With the Student Entrepreneurship Voucher, TU Delft helps lower the financial barrier for turning innovative ideas generated during studies into a viable business. With this grant, TU Delft aims to support startups and entrepreneurs in the earliest stages.

Eligibility

The Voucher can be granted to natural persons that meet the following conditions: 

  • The student has an innovative idea and the ultimate goal to start a business based on this idea. 
  • The student can only apply once to the Voucher. However, one retry is possible after participating in one of the YES!Delft Students programs. 
  • The applicant is a student at the Delft University of Technology or has graduated at the TU Delft for up to 6 months before application. Are you a PhD student? Please contact one of the Innovation Scouts for any help in further developing your innovative idea. 

Application process

To apply for the Student Entrepreneurship Voucher, one must fill in the application form, describing the idea and the plan to develop and/or test this idea. After handing in the application form, your application will be reviewed by a committee, consisting of Delft Enterprises team members and YES!Delft Students board members. If your plan is deemed eligible according to the above mentioned criteria, you will be invited for an intake. If the committee thinks there is a fit with the Voucher, you will be invited for the pitching event at the YES!Delft incubator, where a panel of entrepreneurs and/or startup experts will assess your application. About a week later, you will hear whether you have received the voucher. 

If you are awarded the voucher, you will be invited to sign an agreement including the conditions specified below, after which the funds will be transferred to your personal bank account. After the project is finished you are required to hand in a concise report on the realisation of your plans. 

There are three rounds of application per year. In each round a maximum of (but not necessarily) five vouchers are awarded. 

Next deadline: February 15th , 2025 

Pitching Event: March 14th, 2025 



Conditions


If awarded, the Student Entrepreneurship Voucher will be made available under the following conditions: 


    

  • Only realised, eligible costs may be covered with the Voucher. The grantee may have to (partially) repay Voucher if one deviates from the granted application. 
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  • Only costs with receipts or invoices of registered companies are eligible costs to be covered with the Voucher. 
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  • Invoices by entities held by applicant or partners in the project are not eligible costs. 
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  • Hours spent by the team are not eligible costs. 
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  • Unless invoiced by a KvK registered entity, hours of externals are not eligible costs. 
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  • After one year, remaining budget for which no eligible costs can be shown must be returned. 
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Tips and tricks


    

  • A well-defined and complete budget is vital for the application. You are free to budget external services according to the conditions, but it is also important to show what skills and time investment you will bring to the table.  
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  • Do you want to include second hand purchases in your budget? We do encourage that! However, make sure to save pictures of the advertisements and transactions.  
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  • It is a plus if you can illustrate why this amount of money is suitable for you now. Does it fit with the other funding you are applying for? Does the voucher bring your idea to the next step? 
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The Student Entrepreneurship Voucher is a collaboration between Delft Enterprises and YES!Delft Students. Delft Enterprises does not claim a student’s intellectual property and will not take shares/equity as a result of awarding the voucher. If your idea was generated within a research project, your contract states where IP rights lie.  


For any questions regarding the Student Entrepreneurship Voucher, you can contact Eva van der Meer via E.J.vandermeer@tudelft.nl.