Avendar demonstrates Investigative Intelligence software to Prime Minister Rob JettenAvendar demonstrates Investigative Intelligence software to Prime Minister Rob Jetten

Avendar showed Prime Minister Rob Jetten and State Secretary Willemijn Aerdts (State Secretary for Digital Economy and Sovereignty) at AI House Amsterdam how AI can support investigators in fraud investigations and screening processes. After the demonstration, CEO Marijn van Aerle spoke with them and four other startups about how government can help European technology companies grow.

The demonstration

During the demonstration, Avendar worked through a fictional Bibob case for the takeover of a phone repair shop. Under the Bibob Act, municipalities can assess whether a permit could be misused for criminal activities. A file like this quickly runs to hundreds of pages of extracts, contracts, and financial documents. This creates a complex collection of documents and data.

Signals in the file

Within minutes, Integrity mapped the connections between the people and companies in the file. That surfaced a hidden owner with a drug conviction, a manipulated shareholder register, and suspicious foreign money flows. Integrity quickly surfaces signals of fraud or subversion, so the investigator can focus on assessing those signals.

What startups need

The conversation that followed focused on what Dutch AI startups need in order to scale.

"In the Netherlands we have the technology and the talent. What holds us back is the step from a successful pilot to a substantial contract," says Marijn van Aerle, co-founder of Avendar. "The police were our first customer, so government is willing to work with startups. But if every municipality, province, and implementing organization runs its own pilot and procurement, we spend our growth capital proving the same thing over and over. We need an ambitious growth partner, not more subsidies and programs."

Van Aerle pointed to the Delta Works, which showed what an ambitious government can mean for an entire sector when it acts as a client. AI deserves that same ambition. It was an optimistic conversation, and Jetten and Aerdts said they would take the message back to The Hague.

Thanks to Prosus Ventures and Sebastiaan Vaessen for bringing government and startups together.

About Avendar

At Avendar, we build sovereign AI software that turns fragmented data into actionable insights for critical investigations at public institutions. Our platform supports the Dutch National Police, the municipalities of Amsterdam and The Hague, and the Ministry of Justice and Security, among others, in criminal investigations and Bibob screening.

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