# expx > expx is a boutique corporate innovation agency in Rotterdam. A team of (ex-)founders that helps organisations with innovation design, venture building and skills development, using deep innovation expertise and AI. - Website: https://www.expx.nl - Legal name: EXPX B.V. - Address: Schiedamse Vest 154, 3011 BH Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Email: info@expx.nl - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/expx/ ## About expx (EXPX B.V.) is a boutique corporate innovation agency based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. A small team of senior (ex-)founders, strategists and builders helps established organisations design innovation, build and validate new ventures (from idea to MVP to market) and train their teams, using AI to speed up validation. expx also builds and runs its own ventures. ## Services - [Services overview](https://www.expx.nl/services): Big ideas need more than luck: our services turn them into reality. From innovation strategy to venture building. - [Innovation design](https://www.expx.nl/innovation-design): Innovation as a process: we design, test and refine ideas to create products people actually want. - [Venture building](https://www.expx.nl/venture-building): We build, test and scale new ventures for corporates, from concept to MVP to market. - [Skills development](https://www.expx.nl/skills-development): Training that gives teams the skills to innovate, experiment and execute. ## Client cases - [Keeping first-time buyers after the first meeting](https://www.expx.nl/cases/home-buyer-bidding-tool): First-time buyers came to one of the three largest banks in the Netherlands for an orientation meeting, learned a lot, and then took their mortgage elsewhere. We built a free house-hunting tool that keeps them engaged after that first meeting and shows advisers when to follow up: 5–7% higher conversion and an estimated €10 million in extra revenue a year. (Sector: Financial services; service: Venture building; timeline: 3 years) - [Make it a game: boosting engagement and creativity](https://www.expx.nl/cases/ideation-game): Struggling to engage a global workforce in innovation? Our gamified ideation platform got employees worldwide generating better ideas: 5,000+ ideas from 40+ workshops, and 20 ventures taken into development. (Sector: Industrial; service: Innovation design; timeline: 6 months) - [How AI-augmented interviews accelerate early-stage innovation](https://www.expx.nl/cases/ai-interviews-early-stage-innovation): Drowning in vague customer insights? We used AI-powered interviews to bring clarity, speed, and confidence to early-stage innovation. (Sector: Software & IT; service: Innovation design; timeline: 2-4 weeks) - [Empowering startups in Qatar through hands-on training](https://www.expx.nl/cases/empowering-qatar-startups): expx delivered hands-on workshops in Qatar, helping startup founders master goal-setting and sales strategies. Through interactive training and mentorship, we equipped them with the tools to execute, scale, and build sustainable businesses. (Sector: Startups; service: Skill development; timeline: 3-6 months) - [Streamlining B2B onboarding: from 14 weeks to 1 day](https://www.expx.nl/cases/automation-resources-onboarding-case): A B2B company took 14 weeks to get a new client from first contact to a signed three-year contract. By aligning marketing, sales and operations, automating outreach and follow-up, and answering the questions behind late contract changes up front, we brought that down to a single day. (Sector: Financial services; service: Growth hacking; timeline: 6 Months) - [Building Trust in FinTech & Crypto](https://www.expx.nl/cases/fintech-crypto-case): A crypto investment fund had content but no credibility. Instead of more articles, we built an investment calculator and a landing page on the fund’s real historical data, so sceptical visitors could check the claims themselves. (Sector: Financial services; service: Venture building; timeline: 3 Months) - [Turning a bank’s credit tool into a commercial product](https://www.expx.nl/cases/credit-acceptance-case): From in-house tool to multi-million revenue generator: how we helped one of the three largest banks in the Netherlands turn its credit acceptance technology into a product other companies pay for. (Sector: Financial services; service: Venture building; timeline: 24 months) - [Building an effective innovation department](https://www.expx.nl/cases/innovation-playbook): Turning brainstorms into breakthroughs, discover how our gamified ideation software boosted innovation and engagement. (Sector: Farming & Agriculture; service: Innovation design; timeline: 3 months) ## Our ventures Products built and run by expx: - [Surfaced](https://www.getsurfaced.ai/): Surfaced is an AI search optimisation platform. It shows where ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI recommend a brand and where a competitor wins, then creates local-language content that AI assistants cite. - [The Party Quiz](https://www.thepartyquiz.com/): The Party Quiz is a free quiz app for game shows, pub quizzes and quickfire rounds. AI writes the questions, the quiz plays on a TV, and everyone joins with their phone, without accounts or passwords. - [Innovation Radar](https://innovation-radar.expx.nl/): Innovation Radar turns weak market signals into a short, sourced answer: what changed, why it matters to your strategy and what to do next. ## News and insights - [Working with external innovation teams: faster, smarter, and built for action](https://www.expx.nl/news/external-innovation-teams) (News, Jun 27, 2025, by M. Schulkens): Why working with an entrepreneurial innovation agency beats hiring freelancers or internal consultants. - [Small teams. Big results. Why you don’t need a fancy logo on your innovation deck](https://www.expx.nl/news/small-teams-big-results) (News, May 22, 2025, by M. Schulkens): At expx, we’re a small team of senior entrepreneurs, strategists, and builders. No interns. No handovers. No fluff. When you work with us, you’re working with the people who’ve done this before, multiple times, for real businesses. - [Why corporates should hire innovation teams, not freelancers](https://www.expx.nl/news/hire-innovation-teams-not-freelancers) (News, May 14, 2025, by M. Schulkens): If you’re building something new, a venture, a product, or a strategic experiment, don’t go hunting for freelancers. Hire a team that’s already done this before, together. It’s faster, safer, and more effective. - [The rise of venture building](https://www.expx.nl/news/venture-building-trend) (Trend, May 20, 2024, by M. Schulkens): Staying relevant in rapidly evolving business landscapes is becoming a more urgent concern for many large corporations, as they look to future proof their business. Their traditional ways of operating no longer suffice in a world dominated by global tech giants, agile start-ups, and disruptive business models. This is expx’s expertise in venture building emerges as a critical strategy, offering a lifeline to corporations struggling to innovate and compete. - [Innovation management: Building systems to drive success](https://www.expx.nl/news/innovation-management-trend) (Trend, May 20, 2024, by M. Schulkens): Innovation doesn’t happen by chance. At expx, we understand that successful innovation requires more than ideas—it needs structure, strategy, and support. That’s where innovation management comes in: helping organisations organise, govern, and optimise their innovation processes to turn creativity into measurable outcomes. - [(in)validate projects](https://www.expx.nl/news/validate-projects-trend) (Trend, May 20, 2024, by M. Schulkens): Large, established organisations often struggle to align traditional operational models with forward-thinking innovation strategies. At expx we helped a large industrial company, a global leader in testing, inspection, and certification, to validate the potential of establishing an ideation software project. This initiative aimed to address challenges related to innovation, employee engagement, and global collaboration. ## Team - Joe Misik van der Ven, Partner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemisikven/ - Max Schulkens, Partner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxschulkens/ - Leon Pals, Venture builder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonpals/ - Chiara Liqui Lung, Growth Hacker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefgrowth/ - Geoffrey van der Ven, Product Manager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyven/ - Gianluca Valentini, Venture builder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucav/ ## Company - [Blog](https://blog.expx.nl): articles by the expx team. - [About expx](https://www.expx.nl/about): Who we are: a boutique innovation agency of (ex-)founders; our approach and team. - [Client cases & news](https://www.expx.nl/cases): Overview of client cases, news and trend articles. - [Contact](https://www.expx.nl/contact): Start a project: contact form, email info@expx.nl, office in Rotterdam. - [Privacy policy](https://www.expx.nl/privacy): How expx handles personal data.