Meet the founder
Asked what would have been different for SG Papertronics without RUG Ventures, CEO Maciej Grajewski doesn’t soften his answer: it wouldn’t have happened.
Maciej came to Groningen for a PhD in the University’s Pharmaceutical Analysis group, recruited off the back of an internship abroad. What drew him to Science in the first place was a fascination with complex systems, understanding how things work and how they can be influenced.
Becoming a founder wasn’t a single moment for him, but a gradual shift, “a composition of different characteristics,” a chain reaction rather than a switch. What it demanded was adaptability: the ability to move between functions, to communicate differently with different audiences, and to absorb knowledge from the people around him. Problems, he adds, are constant, sometimes solved alone, sometimes with the help of others who teach him how to handle the next one.
Where RUG Ventures came in
For Maciej, the earliest support from RUG Ventures was what kept the company moving. They believed in the idea and backed its development, helping him build the initial business case at a stage when that support was crucial for the company to exist at all.
Asked which kind of support mattered most, he doesn’t pick one. “It’s everything,” he says, because that’s what RUG Ventures covers. They stay close to the founder and close to the idea, and try to provide what’s needed at any given moment. Most decisions, he adds, are shaped in conversation long before anything reaches a formal vote; the formalisation is only the last step.
What makes them distinctive, in his view, is the network, the University of Groningen and the personal networks of the people around it. But it goes beyond money. It comes from the way RUG Ventures believes in you and stays with you through the struggles. That, he says, is exceptional.
Advice for other founders
For researchers thinking about turning their work into a company, Maciej is blunt. The first question is whether you want to commercialise the research yourself or convince someone else to do it. The second is how much you’re willing to commit. “If it’s less than ninety percent from the beginning, it is not going to happen.” People will try to discourage you, and without something that pulls you through, it’s easy to give up.
Asked to describe his relationship with RUG Ventures in a single word, he lands on one: partnership. Not always easy, he acknowledges, but a real one, both sides pulling toward the same goal.
Find out more about SG Papertronics on their website.
Find out more about Maciej Grajewski on their LinkedIn.