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Why and how we build the ultimate place for makers, creators & innovators

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Abstract ....................................................................2Our mission...............................................................3We believe.................................................................5Our members............................................................6Our services..............................................................8What makes Microlab different?............................11City-within-a-city..............................................13 Residents........................................................15 Visitors......................................................16 Students.....................................................17 Identity........................................................18 Facilities and resources.................................19 Innovation and Development........................20Some numbers.......................................................22Our history..............................................................24Get in touch.............................................................27

ABSTRACT

Microlab is a city-within-a-city built to inspire and enable creativity. It is a place where hobbyists and professionals work side by side. Where internet entrepreneurs collaborate with artisans and large corporations with budding startups.

We are a home for all carpenters, game developers, designers, architects, thinkers, students, welders and everyone else who wants to create or learn to create. A home where machines and tools are used intensively every day, by people with a passion to make things. A place that thrives on ancient craft, collaboration, entrepreneurship, modern technology and - above all - creativity.

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We exist to empower and inspire people to make the most of themselves, so that they can lead more fulfilled and happier lives, because

happy people treat each other better.

Our mission

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Life’s too short to do things you are not passionate about.Everyone deserves to live a life that is deeply satisfying. Whether you call it meaning, purpose, passion or drive: without it you will be unhappy. Our number one wish is that everyone leads a happy life full of passion.

It’s inspiring to learn from other people’s successes and mistakes, but it is stupid and boring to blindly copy.Stand on the shoulders of giants, but don’t walk in their footsteps. Create your own path inspired by the awesomeness all around you. That means getting out of your comfort zone and immersing yourself in the unknown.

We can all achieve more if we share resources and knowledge.By bundling resources, we can all afford tools we would not be able to get by ourselves. Doesn’t matter if the tool is a table saw, a go-to-market strategy or a software platform: sharing is the new owning.

WE BELIEVE

It’s f*cking awesome to help people.We got so much help to get where we are. And so did you. It is your duty to be someone else’s giant.

Our opportunities in life should not depend on who we know or how much money we have.Microlab empowers those who are most driven, engaged and motivated above those who just happen to know the right lingo or were born to walk manicured paths.

The best goals are big and seemingly impossible. A worthwhile life is spent setting and achieving such goals.The world provides infinite opportunities to make your mark. Just pick a target. Be daring. It is fine if you have no idea what the journey will look like, just start your travels. And whenever you are about to break and give up, take a moment and celebrate all those impressive things you have already done.

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Microlab is both Eindhoven’s biggest coworking space and maker space. That means our members vary from carpenters to high-tech startups and from teams part of giant multinationals to a brewery. And so much more. Microlab currently has 230 member companies with over 800 individual members.

OUR MEMBERS

WHERE DID MEMBERS FOUND THEIR COMPANY?

WHAT IS THE AGE OF OUR MEMBERS?

Eindhoven

Netherlands

Other country

NA

Noord-Brabant

31 to 40

25 to 30

41 to 50

Under 25

Over 50

WHAT DO OUR MEMBERS THINK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY?

Very negative Negative Neutral Positive Very positive

HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT YOU WILL RECOMMEND

MICROLAB TO SOMEONE ELSE?

Average: 4,29

Average: 8,45

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

68%

16%

6%

6%

5%

34%

30%

15%

13%

8%

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IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BUILDING.. IT’S ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE

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OUR SERVICES

Achieving big goals requires focus. Microlab makes that possible for our members by providing comfortable workspaces, opportunities for collaboration, tools & machines and nourishment of the mind, soul and stomach.

Coworking spaceRoughly 7,000 square meters of beautiful offices and over 1,000 m2 communal areas for teams of any size. With a ton of shared meeting rooms ranging from a jungle-themed meeting space to a 25-person board room.

Maker spaceWe have more than 80 studios, numerous workshops and five assembly areas in our nearly 3,000 square meter maker space.

Opportunities for collaborationMicrolab is designed to help you meet fellow members, further enhanced by dozens of events per month for our members to take part in.

Tools & machinesWe have professional wood, metal & ceramics shops and assembly squares to work on your most ambitious projects.

Food & beverageMember-drinks every Thursday & Friday. Affordable catered lunch every day. Take-home dinners. Free locally-burned coffee & tea.

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ServicesCleaning is included. As are internet, printing, meeting rooms, front desk and a parcel service.

FlexibilityThe whole thing with creativity is that it can be unpredictable. That is why all our contracts are flexible.

Microlab AcademyCourses, seminars and lectures at prices that allow everyone to participate. Italian cooking, storytelling, welding… You will be entertained and enlightened.

Microlab EventsOur events team helps some of the world’s biggest brands create uniquely inspirational events at Microlab, often featuring our coworking or maker space members.

OUR SERVICES

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WHAT MAKES MICROLAB DIFFERENT?

Microlab is a city-within-a-city built to inspire and enable creativity. Some of our members produce stunning museum pieces. Others teach seminars, workshops and courses. At Microlab, the world’s biggest brands host inspirational events, catered by our amazing chefs. The same chefs who provide daily lunch for our hundreds of members. At Microlab startups become scale-ups and corporations rediscover entrepreneurship.

Our coworking space, maker space, skybar, restaurant and event spaces empower thousands of passionate innovators looking to share resources, have fun and grow together.

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GymParcel serviceReception servicesShowerNursing mothers roomPhotography studioTons of parking spaceFree secure bicycle parkingRecyclingHair salonBeauty parlor

SERVICES

RESOURCES

80 studiosWood workshopMetal workshopCeramics workshopSpray paint boothCNC RouterFive assembly squaresRegular environmental auditsForkliftShop to buy bits & bobs

MAKER SPACE

Skybar with view of EindhovenFull kitchenSubsidized lunchFree drinks on Thursday & FridayFour big parties per yearDozens of events per yearJURA coffee machinesFree coffee, teaGreen CoffeeEvents teamHeineken 0.0Brand beer

RESTAURANT AND BARS

Table tennisShuffle boardTable footballPool tableAir hockeyPianoTons of board gamesLibraryClimbing wallMicrolab newspaper

RELAXATION

22 meeting rooms25 person boardroomCreston video streamingFlip-oversWhiteboards everywhereCatering150 person event space

MEETINGS

More than 600 workspacesHundreds of real plantsTons of places to relaxInterior design servicesFully furnished or BYOD(esk)Ecofriendly LED-lightingBeautiful interior designKick-ass membersFlexible membershipsIndoor swingsCommunity teamWinner of the Coworker Member’s Choice Award 2019

COWORKING

Courses & workshopsFood & drinksArtisanal skillsPersonal developmentTons of free options

MICROLAB ACADEMY

High-speed internetCisco enterprise networkPrinting includedVOIP possibleColocation possible

ICT

Digital access control Camera surveillanceSecurity patrolsTrained first-aid respondersTwo defibrillatorsRIE

SECURITY & SAFETY

Sponsored workspaces for charities & world-changers

IMPACT PROGRAM

WHAT IS NEXT?

Who knows?Come visit to find out

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RESIDENTS

STUDENTS

FACILITIES AND RESOURCES

VISITORS

IDENTITY

INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT

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CITY-WITHIN-A-CITY

“ Cities are the absence of physical space between people and companies. They are proximity, density, closeness. They enable us to work and play together, and their success depends on the demand for physical connection, ”

- Edward Glaeser in Triumph of the City.

Like Glaeser we believe that “cities magnify humanity’s strengths.” Cities attract ambitious people, both young and old. Diversity thrives in cities. Cities create social mobility. Cities allow ideas to spread quickly and widely. Cities offer high-quality facilities, from sports to healthcare to arts to mobility to education.

Just like a great city, we believe a great coworking space needs residents, visitors, students, a strong identity, high quality resources and continuous development.

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We believe that the number, proximity and diversity of the companies that reside at Microlab is key to stimulate collaboration and the spreading of ideas.

That is why we combine a coworking space with a maker space. We are 20 times larger than the average coworking space, because more members means more opportunity for collaboration.

It is also why all our offices and studios are close together, centered around communal areas and have large windows: you need to see and communicate with your neighbors to get to know them.

And, finally, we promote diversity by not bundling similar companies together. Everyone looking to be creative and collaborative is welcome.

RESIDENTS

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Visitors come to Microlab to be inspired, but also to bring knowledge, resources and creativity.

Our restaurants and bars are used by our members during the day, but non-members can enjoy them in the evenings for dinner or drinks. This is an ecofriendly way to reuse space and creates both an incentive and financial means for us to keep our community spaces current.

Microlab also hosts corporate events for companies looking to find inspiration. These typically start with a tour of Microlab and presentations by some of our members.

VISITORS

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It is exciting to learn new skills. And if you wish to live a meaningful life, it is also essential. Stuff changes all the time and you better make sure you evolve as well.

Microlab is a great place to learn. Not only do we house a bachelor program by the SintLucas creative vocational school, we also have our own Microlab Academy to offer affordable courses, seminars and lectures.

STUDENTS

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All great cities have something that makes them stand out. Paris has history and romance. Shanghai offers a unique hybrid of Chinese and western values. Eindhoven has innovation.

Microlab is both Eindhoven’s largest coworking space and its largest maker space.

There is no mistaking Microlab for anywhere else.

IDENTITY

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Great cities have a wide variety of museums, sports teams, hotels, coworking spaces, festivals and parks. Size matters. Bigger cities have better and more diverse facilities and resources. And so do bigger coworking and maker spaces.

FACILITIES AND RESOURCES

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Great cities don’t sleep. They change and innovate. Microlab employs in-house software developers, graphic designers and interior designers to ensure that Microlab stays cutting edge.

Our software developers make tools to automate contract generation, invoicing, automated digital access control and much more. Our own software powers a lot of our processes and allows us to manage one of the largest coworking spaces with ease.

Our interior and graphic designers make everything in Microlab look so good that the Dutch ELLE magazine wrote “this might be the most creative workplace in the Netherlands!”

INNOVATION ANDDEVELOPMENT

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THE MAKER CULTURE IS BECOMING A LIFESTYLE

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SOME NUMBERS

Size: 12,000 square meters

Active member companies: 230+

Active members: 829

Schools: 1 (SintLucas)

Studios: 85

Offices: 137

Dedicated desks: 46

External events: 150 (first six months of 2019)

Workshops: 3 (wood, metal & ceramics)

Doors with digital access control: 269

Size of our team: 28

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SOME NUMBERS

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January 2014Luuk Visser wanted to become a carpenter. He didn’t have professional tools, so he looked for a place where he could work and pay per hour. Such a place did not exist in Eindhoven, so he contacted brother Rik to start their own.

May 2014By May 2014, Luuk and Rik had worked out a plan for a place called Atelier Eindhoven and soon after launched the first €80.000 crowdfunding campaign that provided enough cash to equip a 650 square meter workshop on Strijp T with a ton of machines and tools.

August 2014Dozens of volunteers helped build the studios and workshops in exchange for credits to use Atelier Eindhoven for free.

October 2014Just before the Dutch Design Week, Atelier Eindhoven opened its doors with just five members. However, through lucky coincidence, our tiny maker space also hosted the expo for the Dutch Design Awards that year, bringing in nearly 20,000 visitors in the first two weeks of our existence.

OUR HISTORYFebruary 2015We added four more studios for a total of twelve. Our original building was now full.

June 2015Atelier Eindhoven started offering workshops and trainings. It started as just a fun thing to do in the weekends and evenings to make a little extra cash, but over time we saw that we could have a real impact on people.

January 2016It was clear that our location was too small, so we found a new location on Strijp S and overnight grew from 650 square meters to 12,000. The old Atelier Eindhoven was completely stripped and everything we owned moved to our new building in the first days of 2016.

June 2016Atelier Eindhoven became Microlab and we reopened with twenty studios, eight offices and big dreams

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February 2017The fifth floor opened with our first full-service offices and inspiring design. The original downstairs offices would later be transformed into the clean-side studios.

October 2017The third floor was also transformed into offices. By this time Microlab had about 80 studios.

June 2018We finally got our skybar on the sixth floor! It had long been promised, but had to wait for Philips to move out of the sixth floor before we could open more offices and the skybar. This was also when we added the now famous swings and tree.

September & October 2018Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited Microlab as part of a trip to the Brainport Region. We also sponsored the Maker Faire and Eindhoven Film Festival.

February 2019We started the lunch restaurant in the skybar. And we opened the fourth and final floor of offices.

June 2019The reception area was completely upgraded to match the look and feel of the rest of Microlab.

October 2019The Microlab Academy is launched with a host of workshops and seminars about food, artisanal skills and personal & business development.

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COMINGSOON

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GET IN TOUCH

Want to become a member?microlab.nlmakers@microlab.nl040-340 0100

Want to host an event?microlabevents.nlevents@microlab.nl040-340 0100

Want to teach or follow a course or seminar?microlabacademy.nlacademy@microlab.nl

Do you want a Microlab in your city or building?Luuk Visser, founder & co-directorluuk@microlab.nl

Do you want to invest?Rik Visser, founder & co-directorrik@microlab.nl

Are you press and want to visit?ailen@microlab.nl

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