MediaMatters, the innovation accelerator for media companies, will start 2017 with five participating media organizations. The Dutch public broadcasters NPO, TROS AVRO and EO will join the program, as well as newspaper Nederlands Dagblad and the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer. Important part of the program is a hackathon in which startups find solutions for specific problems of the participating media organizations. MediaMatters is still in talks with several other media companies about participation in 2017.

"We are very pleased that after the successful pilot in 2016 have been able to sign these prestigious media companies for the coming year," says Bert Kok of MediaMatters. His colleague Rick van Dijk adds: "Innovation is vital for media companies and we are confident that our approach can contribute to the necessary transformation."

The core of the MediaMatters program is the continuous scouting of relevant startups and scale-ups in the Netherlands and abroad. Twice a year a selection of startups will be invited for a MatchMaking Day to present themselves to the participating media companies. The best startups will then be selected for a hackathon to devise solutions for problems that media companies are struggling with. The startups are trained by expert coaches in several areas, including customer development.

Besides the contributions from media companies, MediaMatters is also funded by the Dutch Journalism Fund.

MediaMatters is issuing a call in January for startups and scale-up to sign up for the program. Interested startups and media companies can register already via or via the website.