From one market to 16. From a spreadsheet to a platform.
Internship Abroad started with a simple observation: international internships are genuinely life-changing, but getting one is harder than it should be. We set out to fix that.
Built to solve the problem from the inside out
Internship Abroad was founded in 2019 by Daniel van Griensven, based between the Netherlands and multiple international locations. The starting observation was straightforward: the market for international internship placement was fragmented, opaque, and often exploitative - for students and host organisations alike.
Students couldn't find reliable information about what they'd actually be doing or what support they'd have. Universities had no consistent partner to route students through. Placement organisations were operating without formal welfare standards. And the whole process was manual, slow, and expensive.
We started with one market (Netherlands) and one consistent standard: honest information, verified placements, and genuine support from first contact through to final evaluation.
Key milestones, 2019 to today
Founded
Internship Abroad launched in the Netherlands (internshipabroad.nl). First cohort of students placed in Barcelona, Lisbon, and Bali. Partnership agreements signed with first placement organisations.
Consolidation through COVID
Placements paused during travel restrictions but infrastructure built. University partnerships deepened. Erasmus+ documentation processes developed and refined. Partner network held and strengthened.
UK and Czech Republic expansion
First international expansion: internshipabroad.uk (Turing Scheme-aligned) and internshipabroad.cz launched. Student numbers grew significantly. First systematic university partnerships formalised.
Spain, Germany, France, Italy
Four major European markets launched in rapid succession. Each with localised content, local university alignment, local programme guidance. 7 markets active. 100,000+ students reached annually across the network.
Platform launch and global expansion
Student platform (app.internshipabroad.me) launched - centralising the student journey from free signup through to placement confirmation. Markets extended to 16: Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Vietnam.
EU institutional platform
internshipabroad.eu launches as the institutional layer above the 16 country sites - a dedicated resource for universities, governments, and placement companies engaging with the network at an institutional level.
Making international internships accessible, transparent, and transformative
The research is unambiguous: international internship experience significantly improves graduate employability, earnings, and personal development. Yet less than 10% of European graduates have ever studied or trained abroad. The 20% target set for 2020 hasn't been reached in 2026.
The barrier isn't motivation. It's complexity. Finding a verified placement, navigating visa requirements, sourcing appropriate insurance, processing documentation, coordinating with your university - it's opaque, fragmented, and risky for everyone involved.
"Our job is to make the infrastructure invisible. Students should think about what they'll learn and who they'll become. Everything else is ours to handle."
Daniel van Griensven, FounderEvery system we build, every partnership we form, every market we enter is in service of one goal: more students going abroad, with better support, from more backgrounds, into better placements.
Why the timing matters
The global student mobility market is at an inflection point. The numbers are extraordinary - and they explain why we're building aggressively right now.
The people behind the platform
A small, focused team with deep expertise in international student mobility, partnership management, and student experience.
Daniel van Griensven
Founder & CEO
Systems thinker and connector based between the Netherlands and internationally. Founded Internship Abroad in 2019 with the goal of making international internships genuinely accessible. Leads strategy, product, and technology.
daan@internshipabroad.nl
Larysa Stoilik
Head of Partnerships
Leads all placement partner relationships across our global network. The primary point of contact for universities, government programmes, and institutional partners. Ensures quality and welfare standards are maintained across every destination.
larysa@internshipabroad.eu
Bregje
Student Success
Manages day-to-day student communications and wellbeing. The first point of contact for students throughout their journey - from first enquiry through to post-placement. Ensures every student feels genuinely supported.
bregje@internshipabroad.nl
Our team stays deliberately small. Each person carries deep expertise and genuine relationships - we believe that's more valuable than headcount.
Powered by Future Proof Intelligence
Internship Abroad is part of the Future Proof Intelligence ecosystem - an AI-native company operating at the intersection of education, technology, and international mobility. Future Proof Intelligence provides the technology infrastructure that allows us to operate across 16 markets simultaneously, build and deploy new country platforms rapidly, and maintain consistent quality standards without proportional headcount growth.
Our student platform (app.internshipabroad.me) is built on AI-assisted systems that handle student qualification, proposal matching, welfare monitoring, and communication at scale. This is not AI as a buzzword - it's AI as the operational layer that makes a small team genuinely competitive with much larger organisations.
Visit Future Proof IntelligenceIncorporating in Sardinia, Italy
Internship Abroad (trading as Students Abroad) is incorporating its primary entity in Sardinia, Italy. The Italian entity takes advantage of the Invitalia grant programme and Sardinia's growing position as a base for EU-facing digital companies.
For institutional partners in the EU: the Italian incorporation means full GDPR compliance, EU-based legal jurisdiction, and alignment with the European regulatory framework for educational services.
For operational matters, you'll be dealing with our team directly regardless of the legal entity structure. Larysa is your primary contact for partnerships; Daniel for strategic and technical questions.
Let's build something together
Whether you're a university looking for a placement partner, a government programme exploring alignment, or a company wanting to host international talent - we'd like to hear from you.