The Crunchies are also known as the Oscars for Technology. Lex Hoefsloot of Solar Team Eindhoven is still in awe of having won the coveted Award. "The ceremony has ended just now, and we barely had any time to process it. Having said that, it's absolutely amazing to beat such prominent nominees." The Eindhoven solar family car Stella had to compete against Apple, Bitcoin, ESA, and SpaceX. "Who have thought we'd be here now, when we started in the basement of Potentiaal three years ago", Hoefsloot muses. Cobbenhagen just ended his thank-you speech: "Thank you for sharing our dream".

Former team manager Hoefsloot isn't sure why exactly Stella has won the Award. "There's been a verdict, but we haven't heard the motivation behind it. If I were to give a single reason, I'd say the Netherlands is simply doing really well as far as technology is concerned."

Hoefsloot says "it's a tremendous honor to win this prize, especially here in the heart of the technology sector. There's no place like this, really". He says the atmosphere is "very amicable. It's a very open community, anyway. It really doesn't matter whether you're wearing a sweater or a three-piece suit. If your ideas are solid, you're accepted completely".

For now, the STE trio will focus on "partying". Cobbenhagen, Van Ham, and Hoefsloot are flying back home tomorrow, but they're hoping to visit a few startups before that. "It's one of the reasons we're here, so we're going to make the most of our time."