Founder communities in Amsterdam: 14 compared (2026)

The right founder community in Amsterdam is the one you'll go back to: a Saturday run, monthly drinks in a café, an AI meetup or a desk at a deep tech hub. Below are 14 communities, each checked on its own pages on 28 October 2026, with what each costs, how to get in and when it next meets.

A note before you read on: this guide is published by Remote Builders, our own free community for founders who build companies remotely, which you can join online from Amsterdam. It isn't in the table, because it doesn't meet in Amsterdam. We've left out any number we couldn't find on a community's own page.

How to choose a founder community in Amsterdam

Runs and monthly drinks

• Founders Running Club Amsterdam runs every Saturday at 10am from Café Conrad on Zocherstraat, at your own pace or with a pacer, then coffee.
• Hackers & Founders Amsterdam was founded in 2010 and holds monthly Thursday drinks at Café de Muurbloem on Bloemgracht. Its Christmas edition on 3 December 2026 is the last of the year.
• Tech Makers runs monthly tech drinks with pitching at TAG on Jacob Bontiusplaats, plus hackathons and a CTO Clinic. Registration is free.

AI meetups and pitch nights

AI Builders Amsterdam holds a monthly technical meetup at StartDock for AI engineers and founders, with a name-your-own-price ticket; the next is on 18 November 2026. AI Growth Summit Amsterdam holds evening meetups with founder keynotes, most recently at Soho House on 6 October 2026. Startup Valley Amsterdam holds pitch nights at I-Dock where four to six founders pitch to angels and VC partners; the next is on 29 October 2026.

Salons and dinners

• Bits & Pretzels Amsterdam: quarterly evenings with founder Q&As and roundtables of 8 to 10 people, at €10 for the December event.
• Founders Mesh: curated salons and summer parties for startup and scaleup founders, by approval.
• The Aureum Club: monthly drinks, Sunday coffees and dinners for about 15 people, at €20 for drinks; it's a non-profit, so nobody in the room is selling.
• Dutch EdTech Founder Dinners: three-course dinners for scaling EdTech founders, at €65 plus a €5 processing charge.
• Amsterdam Founders Club: paid events, workshops and a WhatsApp community.

Women founders

Ladies Do Business is an English-speaking club for aspiring and existing female entrepreneurs, with coffee networking mornings at Café Americain and guided table rotations. You don't need a business yet to join.

Hubs and peer groups

Startup Village at Science Park offers free coworking on working days, a Wednesday community lunch and The Nursery incubator for quantum and AI teams. EO Nederland runs monthly peer forums of up to 10 for founders with at least €1 million in annual revenue.

Founder communities in Amsterdam compared

These are 14 communities, all checked on 28 October 2026. Every row was active when we checked: an event, intake or post dated May 2026 or later, or open registration for an upcoming event. "Says" means the figure is the community's own claim.

Notes on the table

• Upcoming events. Startup Valley's pitch night is on 29 October, Founders Running Club runs on 31 October, The Aureum Club's dinner is on 5 November, EO Nederland's Testdrive is on 5 November, AI Builders meets on 18 November, Startup Village's Nursery workshop is on 18 November and Hackers & Founders' Christmas edition is on 3 December.
• Approval. Founders Mesh, Bits & Pretzels and Dutch EdTech's dinners need approval, and EO Nederland has a revenue threshold.

Communities we checked and left out

We left out groups whose last Amsterdam event was before May 2026, groups for the wider tech, climate or crypto scene rather than founders, training providers and consultancies, calendars that mostly list other organisers' events, a student founders' group, a programme run online, and a site that returned an empty page. We didn't find an indie hacker, fintech founder or climate founder group in Amsterdam that met that bar; if you run one, tell us and we'll check it.

Amsterdam's founders in numbers

StartupAmsterdam's summary of Techleap's State of Dutch Tech 2025 report says Dutch companies raised €3.1 billion in venture capital in 2024, up 47% on 2023, while only 104 startups raised more than €100,000. Techleap announced on 18 June 2026 that The Stack, a new AI hub in Oostenburg, would open in September 2026, aiming for 200+ founders by 2029.

How to get value in your first month

1. Pick one weekly thing and one monthly thing. A Saturday run, plus monthly drinks or a meetup.
2. Go to the same one three times. By the third, people know what you're building.
3. Bring one specific ask. "I need an intro to a founder who has hired engineers on the Dutch highly skilled migrant scheme" gets you somewhere.
4. Try a free desk. Startup Village's coworking is free on working days.
5. Add a broader group. Our Europe guide covers national associations, and our comparison of communities for remote founders covers the online options.

Common mistakes

• Saying yes to everything. There's more on than you can attend. Pick two or three and go often.
• Only going to pitch nights. Most of the help comes from other founders, not investors.
• Assuming you need Dutch. Many of these groups publish their listings in English, so check each one.
• Waiting for the perfect group. If nothing fits your niche, start one. Our guide to starting a founder meetup covers the first three events.