# From crickets to a stadium: seven years with Impact Hub Amsterdam > Since 2018 Jeroen Wilms of Narrate has been resident impact expert at Impact Hub Amsterdam. He worked there in local and global programmes. Startups, SMEs… Source: https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/impact-hub-amsterdam-seven-years Language: English (Nederlands: https://narrate.works/tools-en-inzichten/zeven-jaar-met-impact-hub-amsterdam) Publisher: Narrate (Narrate B.V.), https://narrate.works [Back to resources & insights](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights) Special · Practice story Since 2018 Jeroen Wilms of Narrate has been resident impact expert at Impact Hub Amsterdam. He worked there in local and global programmes. Startups, SMEs, corporates and regenerative entrepreneurs came through. What they had in common, and what we learned. 3 min read21 October 2026 Photo: [Zoshua Colah](https://unsplash.com/@zoshuacolah?utm_source=narrate&utm_medium=referral) via [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=narrate&utm_medium=referral) For founders, social enterprises and 1 moreImprovementAccountabilityLeadershipBelongs to For [Founders](https://narrate.works/with/founders), [Social enterprises](https://narrate.works/with/social-enterprises), [Incubators/accelerators](https://narrate.works/with/incubators-accelerators) Perspective [Improvement](https://narrate.works/impact-management#improve), [Accountability](https://narrate.works/impact-management#account), [Leadership](https://narrate.works/impact-management#steer) Phase [Strategy & scope](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights?phase=strategyScope), [Intelligence design](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights?phase=intelligenceDesign), [Engagement & communication](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights?phase=engagementCommunication) Challenge [Food system change](https://narrate.works/about#voedseltransitie), [Restoring nature and communities](https://narrate.works/about#herstel-van-natuur) Sector [Food and farming](https://narrate.works/about#voedsel-en-landbouw) Frameworks and methods [Theory of change (ToC)](https://narrate.works/impact-management/frameworks#verandertheorie), [Five dimensions of impact](https://narrate.works/impact-management/frameworks#vijf-dimensies), [IRIS+](https://narrate.works/impact-management/frameworks#iris) Keywords [Theory of change](https://narrate.works/keywords#verandertheorie), [Indicator set](https://narrate.works/keywords#indicatoren), [Workshop](https://narrate.works/keywords#workshop), [Training](https://narrate.works/keywords#training), [Office hours](https://narrate.works/keywords#spreekuur) In 2019 Jeroen sat down with a startup that farmed crickets as a source of protein. A few weeks later he talked to a social enterprise that makes soup with and for older people. They were in the same cohort of the Food Chain Accelerator, and they had the same question. How do you show what your work changes, when you have only just started? That question kept coming back. Since 2018 Jeroen has been resident impact expert at Impact Hub Amsterdam. He runs office hours, workshops and trainings, and coaches founders one to one. Since its first edition we have worked with every participant of the Food Chain Accelerator. That is more than seventy ventures so far. 71 ventures in the Food Chain Accelerator since 2019 Source: our own count 7 editions, with one year without: 2023 Source: our own count 111 ventures in the three programmes in this story Source: our own count ## In the entrepreneur’s language During one session an entrepreneur in the Food Chain Accelerator said something that stayed with Jeroen. Finally someone who speaks and understands my language. These are not linear steps, we are working together on a chaotic transition. That is where our work starts too. Not with a model, but with how entrepreneurs talk about their own work. ### Seven years in five moments 2018 Jeroen becomes resident impact expert at Impact Hub Amsterdam. 2019 The first edition of the Food Chain Accelerator, with 12 ventures. 2020 Impact Nation starts, with established companies instead of startups. 2023No edition of the Food Chain Accelerator. 2025 The Regeneration Program starts, with 11 entrepreneurs who want to restore nature and communities. 2026 The seventh edition of the Food Chain Accelerator starts. ## Established companies, the same question With ABN AMRO, Impact Hub and The Next Web, a very different programme started in 2020: Impact Nation. Not startups this time, but established companies. A family business making wall brackets, a printing company, a property company and the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Jeroen gave trainings there and a lot of one-to-one advice. What stood out was how similar the questions were. A company that is a hundred years old wants to know just as much what it changes, and for whom. ## From less harm to repair Since 2025 we have also worked on the Regeneration Program of Impact Hub. It goes one step further. Its entrepreneurs don’t only want to do less harm, but want to restore nature and communities. The programme runs for five months, with guidance, small-group working sessions and personal coaching. Narrate gives the impact management trainings there, just as in the Food Chain Accelerator. ## The mission is clear, the figures are not What we saw over all those years is that the mission is often clear, but the figures lag behind. We saw it in local and global programmes. And in SMEs just as much as in corporates. Impact data and business data sit in separate spreadsheets. A pitch sometimes promises more than the venture can show. That is not bad will. People are busy, and measuring comes after the real work. ## How we start So we always start with one sentence about what changes, and for whom. Then we make a first theory of change on one A3 sheet, with the weakest assumption at the top. Only then do we choose the most important indicators, and for which rights-holders and stakeholders they count. We take them from data that already exists. For startups going to an investor, we link that to the five dimensions of impact and IRIS+. That way the story holds up better in due diligence. For established companies it is more often about choices inside the company itself. It also gave something to the hub itself. Impact Hub wants to know what a programme achieves, across a whole cohort. For that we made a typology of the ventures, and a report at programme level from what participants already supplied. Would you like us to take a look? That usually starts with one question you send us, for example just before a pitch. ## Seven years around Impact Hub Amsterdam Since 2019 we have worked with 86 participants in 3 programmes run by Impact Hub Amsterdam. Food Chain Accelerator came back every year but one. In the centre, the organisation. Each ring is a year, from 2019 inside to 2026 outside. Each point is a participant, in the direction of its programme. An edition that began in 2026 is drawn as open points. Anyone who took part twice counts twice. There was no edition in 2023, so that ring stays empty. Source: the participant lists Impact Hub Amsterdam published, as of 21 October 2026. The figures as a table Seven years around Impact Hub Amsterdam | Programme | Edition | Participants | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2019 | 12 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2020 | 10 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2021 | 6 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2022 | 11 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2024 | 11 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2025 | 11 | | Food Chain Accelerator | 2026-2027 | 10 | | Investment Ready Program | 2019 | 4 | | The Regeneration Program | 2025-2026 | 11 | | Total | 86 | Sources for the figures Every figure on this page comes from these public lists. Food Chain Accelerator - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-impact-the-food-chain-accelerator-2019/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-impact-the-food-chain-accelerator-2019/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-entrepreneurs-impact-the-food-chain-accelerator-2020/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-entrepreneurs-impact-the-food-chain-accelerator-2020/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2021/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2021/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/nl/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2022/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/nl/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2022/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2024/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2024/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2025/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-startups-food-chain-accelerator-2025/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-participants-food-chain-accelerator-2026-2027/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-participants-food-chain-accelerator-2026-2027/) Impact Nation - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/program/impact-nation/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/program/impact-nation/) - [abnamro.com/nl/nieuws/impact-nation-in-100-dagen-naar-concreet-resultaat](https://www.abnamro.com/nl/nieuws/impact-nation-in-100-dagen-naar-concreet-resultaat) - [abnamro.com/nl/nieuws/verduurzaming-in-de-praktijk-steuntje-in-de-rug-met-impact-nation](https://www.abnamro.com/nl/nieuws/verduurzaming-in-de-praktijk-steuntje-in-de-rug-met-impact-nation) - [holiehub.nl/event-abn-amro-impact-nation/](https://holiehub.nl/event-abn-amro-impact-nation/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/impact-nation-matches/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/impact-nation-matches/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/program/impact-nation-for-startups-2021/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/program/impact-nation-for-startups-2021/) - [marketscreener.com/quote/stock/HAWICK-DATA-N-V-13962504/news/We-have-a-moral-obligation-to-innovate-43306414/](https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/HAWICK-DATA-N-V-13962504/news/We-have-a-moral-obligation-to-innovate-43306414/) - [change.inc/future-leadership/deze-7-bedrijven-gaan-hun-grootste-duurzaamheidsuitdaging-aan-38895](https://www.change.inc/future-leadership/deze-7-bedrijven-gaan-hun-grootste-duurzaamheidsuitdaging-aan-38895) - [abnamro.com/en/news/impact-nation-an-intensive-programme-driving-innovation](https://www.abnamro.com/en/news/impact-nation-an-intensive-programme-driving-innovation) Regeneration Program - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-participants-the-regeneration-program-2025/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/meet-the-participants-the-regeneration-program-2025/) - [amsterdam.impacthub.net/the-regeneration-program-2025-halfway-update/](https://amsterdam.impacthub.net/the-regeneration-program-2025-halfway-update/) ## Read on - [The space in between](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/the-space-in-between) - [The go-betweens](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/the-go-betweens) - [Seventy years of impact management](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/history-of-impact-management) - [From M&E to MEALP](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/from-m-and-e-to-mealp) - [Do the standards finally speak one language?](https://narrate.works/resources-and-insights/do-the-standards-speak-one-language) Want to know where your organisation stands in this story? We are happy to talk it through.