Many startups postpone their intellectual property (IP) and legal strategy. First comes building, growing, showing traction. Only when problems appear does protection enter the picture.
But why wait? It feels logical: make progress first, deal with the rest later. Yet that can turn into an expensive mistake. In an early stage, you can anticipate legal, ethical, and regulatory risks and safeguard your company’s growth.
Fortunately, you don’t have to figure this out alone. There are programs that support you in this journey. One of them is Breaking Barriers.
How Breaking Barriers supports you
Breaking Barriers exists to help Dutch AI startups grow with a long-term perspective. Over a 9 to 12-month program, you receive:
- Hands-on guidance for your unique growth barriers
- Access to funding for strategic projects (such as legal frameworks or international expansion)
- Experts who help you shift from reactive to proactive
What does this look like in practice? A strong example is Verify, the very first participant of Breaking Barriers.
How Verify made the difference early on
Verify is a startup that developed a kind of “DocuSign for image rights.” Their platform automates how images are tracked, protected and linked to consent.
“Many organizations cannot demonstrate that people in photos have given consent,” says Niels Bouwman, CEO and founder of Verify. “This can lead to serious GDPR violations and even fines or reputational damage.”
With support from Breaking Barriers, Verify took earlier steps in their IP strategy. They started patenting parts of their technology sooner. A move that not only created legal protection but also built greater trust with customers and investors.
“We’re now patenting parts of our technology,” says Niels. “Without Breaking Barriers, we probably would have waited until much later.”
Early protection helped Verify not only avoid risks but also strengthen their market position and open doors faster.
From risk to opportunity
By protecting your technology and legal foundation early, you can make the difference in competitive or heavily regulated markets. These are exactly the kinds of strategic steps that Breaking Barriers makes possible.
Ready to become proactive?
Curious about your own legal or strategic blind spots? Breaking Barriers helps you tackle them early. Get in touch and take the step from risk to opportunity.
