Post by HIBO - Hanze International Business Office

🎉 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬’ 𝐃𝐞𝐧 2025 – What an inspiring afternoon! Yesterday, we gathered at the Hanze campus for this year’s edition of Dragons’ Den! Nine student teams presented their business ideas to a panel of experienced Dragons, concepts ranging from digital platforms and websites, to new approaches to student housing, and restaurants tailored to student life. Throughout the pitches, teams showed creativity, as well as the courage to answer challenging questions and defend their ideas in front of an audience. The Dragons provided thoughtful, constructive feedback, encouraging students to sharpen their concepts and think ahead to the next steps. In the end, two projects were awarded top honors: 🥈 Runner-up: Elev8 tasks Elev8 tasks is an innovative platform connecting university students with real, paid tasks from companies, thus helping students gain practical experience while supporting businesses with flexible, high-quality support. Through Elev8, companies can post short-term projects or delegate task flows to be managed by the platform, making it easier to access skilled student talent on demand. Their mission: ✅ Empower students to grow through real-world work ✅ Help businesses scale flexibly ✅ Enable long-term talent discovery from day one Congratulations to the team behind Elev8 tasks for a clear, confident pitch, a promising concept with real impact potential, and a fantastic prototype website! 🥇 Winner: LenzLoot This year’s first prize went to LenzLoot, a gamified social media app that helps people discover and share discounts in and around their city. Through features like discount code sharing, streaks, and treasure hunts, LenzLoot encourages users to snap, save, and discover deals in a fun, spontaneous way! Beyond the awards, it was inspiring to see all the teams step forward and share their ideas. We’re proud of each group for their hard work, preparation, and the professionalism they brought to the stage. A huge thank you to: ✨ All the Dragons—Adelien Zwaan-Lennips, Sander Bruinsma, Mercedes Prinsen, Dilan Cagli, Wessel de Vries, and Johan Russchen—for generously sharing your time, expertise, and for providing feedback that will help students develop their projects further. ✨ The coaches and lecturers—Albert Hulzebos, Piter Golbach, Isolda Kuiper, Daniel T., Boudewijn Olthof, Houke Holswilder, Cambell Parsons, and Peter Stukker—who supported the teams in refining their pitches. ✨ The HanzeMag, for capturing the spirit of the day! ✨ And everyone else behind the scenes who helped make this event a success! We look forward to seeing where these ideas will go next, and to welcoming a new group of students to the stage next year. #HIBO #EENcanhelp #EENNederland #Entrepreneurship #Hanze Hanna van der Stok – Dick Pouwels – Froukje Wijma – Hugo Velthuijsen – Marcel van der Kooi – Karin Vegter – Linda Mulder – birgitte dekker – Joost Haandrikman – International Business School | Hanze UAS Groningen