Amsterdam: Executives from a bevy of young European companies took the stage in Amsterdam last Thursday, hoping to strike it big in the second internet boom.
Twenty-five start-up companies paid 2,500 euros each for a chance to give a pitch of five minutes or less to some 1,000 venture capitalists, journalists, bloggers and fellow entre-preneurs at "The Next Web."
Similar conferences have been held for several years in the United States, but they are relatively new to Europe.
"A lot is happening in Europe, I think you can see that here," said conference organiser Patrick de Laive. He said European entre-preneurs were hungry for access to capital, and for a chance to meet each other in the real world. "I hope that some of them will break through."
Few of the companies at conference appear revolutionary at first glance - but neither were search engines when Google appeared on the scene. Many seek to give users more and easier ways to slice and share information online or via mobile phones.
One of the most straightforward models is that of Belgium's Zilok. Think eBay, only for the rental market.
'Phenomenon'
The company, which operates in France, the US and most recently the Netherlands, is "becoming a phenomenon", said founder Gary Cige, not shy to promote his business. "Experts are saying that... renting is going to become a major way of consumption in the future." He said the company had expected power tools to be its bread and butter, but was surprised to find that professional-quality photo cameras and baby strollers had turned out to be big hits on the rental market.
"One guy who happened to have a popcorn machine has rented it out six times and he's paid it off now - of course it's an unusual story, but we think we'll see more things like that happening," Cige said.
Robert Goldberg, a partner at YL Ventures who travelled from San Francisco for the conference, said Europe suffered a lack of "early-stage" venture capital.
"That's why we're here," he said. 'There are incredible educational centres [in Europe], and unbelievable entrepreneurial spirit, but now there needs to be a little bit of energy and capital to be provided to foster that."
