Meet the entrepreneurs of the Boost je Buurt challenge 2022

Thanks to The Eberhardjes,  Amsterdam has its own cookies. Part of the proceedings will be used to draw attention to the sweet sides of the city.

Water en Brood is already a successful business, where the brothers Taraq and Rachid help entrepreneurs to create diaspora-friendly catering businesses and increase the reach of black entrepreneurs.

According to The Swap Shop, swapping is the new shopping. In the store in the center, Amsterdammers can hand in their clothes in the store and receive points in return, which they can use to purchase other new items.

Nature Bar makes soap and shampoo bars with a mission: to inspire people to take better care of themselves and nature.

Regeneration Cooperative wants to work with local residents on themes such as sustainability, social cohesion and food supply in the city by keeping it small: making the neighborhood greener or organizing activities in the neighbourhood.

Taaly is an app that pairs newcomers with only a basic knowledge of Dutch with native speakers to practice their speaking skills through video calls.So as a newcomer you can practice the language while talking about football, your favourite series or while baking.

Show 2 people the same picture and they both see something different. Picture Bright Foundation uses this information to allow local residents, newcomers and care providers to talk to each other during various workshops and events.

Ziggy and Ayla make new clothes from discarded textiles such as sheets, curtains and sleeping bags. In the studio, you can also have your clothes repaired, there is a swap store and an online platform.

De Werkplek offers non-nonsense and affordable workplaces to stimulate the local community in each neighborhood, which reduces CO2 emissions and traffic jams and makes more efficient use of space. Currently you can find them in Amsterdam-Noord, but they are on a mission to branch out to every district in Amsterdam.

The Lstnr app literally offers a listening ear when needed. Together with the users, the makers are building an app that ensures that you can easily and safely share your story with someone else, when you need it.

Since the autumn, catering collective Tuindorp Deli-cious has been cooking takeaway meals from all over the world to be sold on the Zonneplein in Amsterdam-Noord. Now they are ready for the next step: their own business with a large kitchen, furniture and bicycle workshop so that they can become a training and experience place for people with a distance to the labor market.

Buuro is an app, still in development, which makes it possible to seek help from your neighbors. Each hour of help generates an Uuro, a local currency that can be used to get help from someone else.

Composer Sophie Jurrjens makes sound walks, with their own soundtrack, under the name Off-Track. She wrote and composed the music herself based on the environment, so it makes to seem like you are in a movie and a walk becomes an experience.

1.5 million chewing gums end up on the streets in the Netherlands every year. WeFresh makes chewing gum and ensures that less chewing gum ends up on the street: the packaging is designed in such a way, you can also put your chewed gum in it.

Marie Marie Amsterdam wants to connect women through crocheting. Together with, among others, the elderly fund and Boost Amsterdam, (lonely) elderly people, refugees and young people from the neighborhood are now also involved.

Asking for help is quite difficult. Good Registry wants to help with this by developing an app that links supply and demand at the office, in the neighbourhood, with friends or family.

Turning Table is a place where local residents can sit during the day for a cup of coffee, a newspaper or to work. In the evenings, this place is transformed into a location for events, and wine tastings, where people can also come on their own.

FC Weesp is there for everyone. The club not only offers football for all ages, but also organises other (sports) events and is working hard to create a sports and meeting park, a sports medical center and a healthy canteen, preferably all climate neutral.

Broeii Maak en Recylce is a neighborhood lab that brings residents and local makers together. Local residents can collect plastic here and compost their fruit and vegetable waste, while (new) makers can get to work here with a plastic shredder, extruder, 3D printer or CNC machine to work on their prototypes.

Bar Bario is the favorite pub for the LGBTQIAA+ community and people of color. A creative hub, bar and safe space on the Bilderdijkstraat to come together, exhibit and organize events.

The Sustainable Fashion Gift Card can be spent at 80 different sustainable stores. Founder Nanette Hogervorst wants to encourage consumers to make sustainable choices and bring sustainable entrepreneurs, fashion pioneers and experts into contact with each other.

Sewing café and sustainable fabric shop De Stitch is already a household name in the neighbourhood. Various workshops and courses are given here with the aim of teaching Amsterdammers making, repair and handicraft techniques in an accessible way.

DRIFTY is an electric, modular and maintenance-free boat made from recycled plastic, contributing to the transition and at the same time make sustainable sailing accessible to everyone.

True Cost Label calculates how sustainable clothing really is based on a life cycle analysis. These insights provide fashion brands with the knowledge to clean up future collections, to make the impact of the circular chain clearly visible and to compare it with the rest of the industry.

Yumi makes it easier to see when your friends can or cannot. The app is completely focused on facilitating real-life appointments so that you spend as little time as possible on the use itself, because that is the most important: quickly on the road with your friends.

Respyre BV wants to make the city greener in a circular way. For example, by developing circular concrete, by developing new sustainable solutions with minimal maintenance, so that social housing can also be made greener.

Juice bar Juiciety makes healthy juices from fruit and vegetables. Purely natural and without added sugars or artificial fragrances and colours, with traditional South American and Caribbean superfoods.

Bim Tour Guides takes you to the historical, cultural and future highlights of Amsterdam Southeast. The guide will tell you about the architecture, the history of the district and the local entrepreneurs and initiatives in the area.

Crossing Wires builds a bridge between talent from the Bijlmer (Bims for intimates) and commercial multinationals and agencies in order to create opportunities for underrepresented groups to help young people on their way to the labor market.

Artist Frederike Top makes light installations in collaboration with the neighborhood. This resulted in ‘Straatzinnen’ in Amsterdam south-east, which consists of light artworks, a podcast, and a video in which residents tell their stories. Visitors can listen to the interviews by scanning a QR code, while at the same time, as the artwork lights up, the neighborhood also becomes a bit saves.