João Arthur Netto

Startup visa program associate

João Arthur Netto is a Brazilian-Italian entrepreneur based in the eastern region of the Netherlands, with a strong interest in business development, cross-border collaboration, internationalisation, networking, and startups. Originally from Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, and born to a family of entrepreneurs, João moved to Germany at the age of 15, an experience that sparked his passion for intercultural communication and international ecosystems. Having lived in Europe for the past eight years, including Germany and the Netherlands, he built his career around connecting startups, people, and ecosystems across borders. João holds a Bachelor of Arts in Niederlande-Deutschland-Studien (Dutch-German Studies) from the renowned Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (Germany), including an Erasmus exchange at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands). His bachelor’s thesis focused on the Dutch startup visa nearly ten years after its introduction in the Netherlands. Today, João is the owner of Nettoja Consultancy, registered at the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce under number 95111735. Through this business, he advises foreign (startup) companies on business networking events, market research, partnerships, and translation services. He is also active as a Dutch startup visa program associate at Crosspring & uGlobally, supporting innovative founders from around the world with their first steps in the Netherlands. Alongside his entrepreneurial activities, João currently mainly works as a Programme Developer Trainee at Twente Board, one of the economic boards of the Netherlands, where governments, educational institutions, and businesses collaborate on regional development. João is fluent in Portuguese, English, German, and Dutch, and is currently learning Italian to honour his roots.