The worlds of culture, creativity, and investment are more connected than ever—but bridging them requires new perspectives, collaboration, and action. Whether you’re a creative navigating funding opportunities or an investor exploring the innovation potential of the cultural and creative sectors, this event will help break down barriers and build new pathways. Join EIT Culture & Creativity, Stichting DOEN, the Municipality of Amsterdam, and other inspiring speakers for a day of exploring how impact investment can support creative entrepreneurship, drive economic growth, and unlock new opportunities across Europe.
- 10:00: Welcome with Gijs Gootjes (EIT CC)
- 10:15: Amsterdam Impact with Egon van Wees (City of Amsterdam) and Diek Pothoven (MARTAN)
- 10:45: Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition Funding Opportunities with Heleen Rouw (CIIIC)
- 11:00: Talk by Martijn Blom and Arthur Steiner
- 11:30: Coffee Break
- 11:45: Panel about Impact Investing in the Cultural and Creative Sector moderated by Martijn Blom (Impact Europe) and Arthur Steiner (New Silk Roads) with Mirjam Niessen (DOEN Participaties), Lisanne Bedaux (UNESCO), Zineb Seghrouchni (DAR Cultural Agency), and Florian Schneider (University of Galway)
- 13:30: Welcome back with Jennifer Muntslag and Javier Arias (EIT CC)
- 13:40: Pitch by Guillaume Warmerdam (Make Waves)
- 13:50: Announcement by Impact Europe and EIT Culture & Creativity with Martijn Blom (Impact Europe) and Javier Arias (EIT CC)
- 14:05: Panel moderated by Javier Arias (EIT CC) with Çağıl Özdemir (3dots), Peter van Sabben (Dealroom.co), Guillaume Warmerdam (Make Waves), and Joost Vervoort (Utrecht University)
- 14:50: Upcoming Events and How to Stay in Touch with Gabriela de Vries (EIT CC) and Susannah Montgomery (EIT CC)
About the speakers
Javier Arias is Director of Business Creation at EIT Culture & Creativity, where he drives the strategy for incubation, acceleration and scaling up of ventures in various culture and creative industries and sectors.
Martijn Blom is impact investment fund developer at Impact Europe. He aims to spotlight and support 100 investment funds in the next few names under #100funds initiative. He recently conducted a feasibility study for DOEN Participates for a new Impact Investment Fund for the cultural and creative sector in Europe.
Arthur Steiner is co-founder at New Silk Roads, and works as a researcher, curator and strategic advisor on business development for impact-driven cultural organisations around the world. He recently conducted a feasibility study for DOEN Participates for a new Impact Investment Fund for the cultural and creative sector in Europe.
Florian Schneider is the founding director of the Institute for Creativity, a new Research Institute at the University of Galway, where he holds a full professorship. He is also Professor of Art Theory and Documentary Practices at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the President of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR). Since March 2024, he has been the scientific coordinator of PACESETTERS, a Horizon Europe-funded research initiative exploring how arts and culture can not only adapt to the climate crisis, but also drive the transition towards sustainable and regenerative economies.
Mirjam Niessen is an experienced investment professional, with focus on impact investing. Mirjam works for DOEN Participations, the fund of the National Postcode Lottery. DOEN invests in a green, social, and creative society.
Gijs Gootjes is working on Societal Challenges from within the Cultural and Creative Industries, with a special focus on building communities, partnerships and ventures in the European green and digital transition.
Susannah Montgomery is a Business Development Manager at EIT Culture & Creativity, where she connects stakeholders to drive innovation in the culture and creative sectors with a focus on gaming, media, cultural heritage, and the digital transition.
Gabriela Milyanova de Vries is a Business Development Manager at EIT Culture & Creativity, passionate about creativity, social impact, and sustainability. Gabriela is focusing on the sectors of fashion, architecture, culture heritage, and the green transition.
Heleen Rouw is a seasoned leader in media and entertainment, bringing her expertise to audience-focused organizations, from film companies and broadcasters to museums and festivals. As director of Cinekid (2020–2025), she played a key role in expanding the festival’s reach, developing hybrid formats, and strengthening collaborations within the digital culture sector. Since January, she has been the program director of the Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition (CIIIC), a National Growth Fund initiative driving innovation in immersive experiences within the creative industry.
Peter van Sabben is a co-founder of Growth Tribe, TechMeUp, and DutchEdTech, with a passion for building Europe’s tech ecosystem. He specializes in digital marketing, commercial strategies, and go-to-market plans for startups and scaleups, helping them quickly gain traction and scale sustainably. Current clients include Dealroom, Chapter, and LeapfrogAI. Connect with Peter on X or LinkedIn.
Zineb Seghrouchni is the founder of DAR Cultural Agency. DAR creates space for artists who question the status quo from multiple perspectives. By representing some of the finest (emerging) contemporary artists and designers, developing cultural programming, thoughtful curation, and meaningful collaborations between talents, museums, brands and communities. Before starting DAR, Zineb was the woman behind the international success of the Creative Industries Fund.
Egon van Wees is team lead ‘Entrepreneurship and Ecosystems’ for the department of Economic Affairs and Culture at the City of Amsterdam. Egon has been working on impact entrepreneurship and social innovation for over 15 years. The city takes an active role in strengthening the innovation and impact ecosystem by supporting the creation of incubators, with access to capital programmes such as Fem Start for female founders and accelerators for local entrepreneurs, change makers, artists and creatives. Special focus in all activities go to fostering diverse and inclusive ecosystems and making the success of the impact and innovation economy land in neighbourhoods with overlooked talent and entrepreneurs.
Guillaume Warmerdam has over 15 years of experience in the music and music tech business. Including working for the management and label of the artist Caro Emerald. (6x platinum in the Netherlands and no.1 album in the UK), the internationally successful music tech company Fuga. He started the boutique distribution company LAB Music, co-founded the playlist network and record label Vokall Records and the Do-It-Yourself music distribution platform Make Waves (www.makewaves.fm).
Lisanne Bedaux is a senior advisor for culture and heritage at the Netherlands Commission for UNESCO, with an academic background in both Law and Art History. She is currently involved in research related to the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention, focusing on sustainable financing models for heritage communities.
Joost Vervoort an Associate Professor of Transformative Imagination at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. He researches how creative sectors contribute to societal change, and is currently developing the video game ALL WILL RISE where you take billionaires to court for destroying the planet in a strange and soulful world.
Diek Pothoven is creative director and co-founder of MARTAN, the circular fashion label that combines high-end design with radical sustainability. With a background in international advertising and show production, Diek brings a unique blend of artistic vision and strategic impact. His strength lies in translating social urgency into inspiring storytelling and tangible change within the fashion industry.
Çağıl Özdemir is a co-founder of 3dots, a venture that has been working on designing alternative finance models for the cultural and creative industries. Through 3dots, she has contributed to projects across Türkiye and Europe focused on governance strategies and financial instruments for the creative economy, in collaboration with institutions such as the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology and UNDP Kosovo.
Jennifer Muntslag, also known as JNM the Naked MC, is a versatile presenter, actress, MC and performer who has built a strong reputation within the Cultural & Creative sector. Professionally, she is known for her dynamic and energetic stage presence, where she brings events to life with her unique style of hosting and audience interaction.
About EIT Culture & Creativity
EIT Culture & Creativity is the ninth Innovation Community by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. It is designed to strengthen and transform Europe’s Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI) by connecting creatives and organisations to Europe’s largest innovation network. It takes a holistic and open approach to innovation – from tech to artistic driven innovations, from business to citizen driven – and reinforces the appreciation and anchoring of European values and identities. EIT Culture & Creativity will unlock latent value from a multitude of small CCSI stakeholders through technology transfer, improved cross-sectoral collaboration and their effective integration in production value networks. EIT Culture & Creativity will support technology and business innovation; artistic innovation and social innovation. It will also harness the unique position of the CCSI to facilitate the Triple Transitions in Europe – green, digital and social.
