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Last week, on June 18, Radboudumc's PhD candidates and postdocs came together for the annual Midsummer Night Event—a festive conclusion to a day already packed with strategic reflection and award celebrations.
The evening kicked off with a dose of inspiration, as Alexander Nicastia, Head of Business Development at Radboudumc, moderated a lively double talk with two successful Radboudumc spin-off founders: Eva van Rikxoort, founder of Thirona, and Daniël van Dort, founder of CardiacBooster.
Each shared the personal journey behind their entrepreneurial success—stories filled with ambition, setbacks, and unexpected turning points. Eva recalled how a bold marketing move (a towering stand at a trade fair) saved her then-fledgling company: “I wish I had learned how to sell my product much earlier.” Daniël, on the other hand, waited four years before his idea finally generated revenue. His secret to staying sane? “I just did other things, like travelling,” he said with a smile.
Eva van Rikxoort
In 2000, when hardly anyone had heard of artificial intelligence, Eva began studying it at Radboud University with just eight fellow students. Fascinated by AI, she went on to earn a PhD in Medical Image Analysis, learning to develop software that helps doctors interpret hospital scans. Her research journey took her around the world, including a postdoc at UCLA, where she realized she didn’t need to pursue a purely academic career. Instead, she joined MedQIA, applying her skills in real-world healthcare. In 2014, she took a bold step and founded her own company, Thirona, in the Netherlands—despite friends and colleagues thinking she was crazy to leave a secure job. But for Eva, the risk was worth it: “In the worst case, I’d just find another job. So what?”
Daniël van Dort
A similar mindset drove fellow entrepreneur Daniël van Dort, founder of CardiacBooster, who started with a simple yet powerful question: “How can we go to the Moon, but we can’t fix a pump (the heart)?” That thought sparked the creation of a new heart pump designed for patients in cardiogenic shock—a life-threatening condition following a heart attack that severely reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood. Roughly half of patients with this condition don’t survive. CardiacBooster’s device steps in during this critical moment, boosting heart function and increasing the chances of recovery.
Daniël, who still works part-time at the surgery department of Radboudumc, built the very first version of the pump literally at his kitchen table. What started as a practical idea has since grown into a nationally acclaimed innovation. In 2019, CardiacBooster was selected as one of the ten most promising scientific startups in the Netherlands.
BBQ & Drinks
Once the talks wrapped up—and the smell of barbecue filled the air—it was time to unwind. With the sun still high and the courtyard of the Experience Center bathed in golden light, everyone headed outside. There, food, drinks, and good conversation carried the evening forward in true midsummer spirit.
Scroll down for a visual impression of the evening.
