The Ministry of Defence announced a new investment fund to be established, the SecFund (‘Security Fund’). This fund, with a fund capital of 100 million euros, will provide early-stage financing to Dutch start-ups, scale-ups and innovative SMEs that meet the innovation needs of Defence. The fund invests up to a maximum amount of 5 million euros per company.
The Ministry of Defence, the provinces, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the regional development companies and the industry are joining forces for national security, innovative strength and economic growth.
Innovative companies in the defence sector experience a threshold in obtaining financing more often than companies in other sectors, according to research by the European Union. Raising risk capital is a major challenge. Not only because the capital requirement of these companies is very high, but also because financiers are reluctant to invest in the defence industry. The SecFund must bridge this gap.
Dual-Use in security and civil
The SecFund will focus on dual-use products. These are products that can be used in both civil and security sectors. Such as technology that can make installations quiet. These applications ensure on the one hand quiet factories and on the other hand drones with less noise. Another example is LiFi: a new generation of data transmission, which is faster than WiFi and can transfer more data per second. Or consider advanced radio technology.
Gijs Tuinman - State Secretary of Defence:
With the SecFund we support start-ups and scale-ups in a crucial phase to jointly arrive at innovations for a safer Netherlands.
The SecFund is a collaboration between the Ministries of Defence and Economic Affairs and the regional development companies (ROMs). It is a fund with national coverage. The implementation is assigned to the Brabant Development Company (BOM) in collaboration with the other ROMs. In this way, optimal use is made of the knowledge and experience with investing and venture development present there. The supra-regional fund manager is BOM. The expectation is that the fund will be opened in the course of January 2025. From that moment on, interested companies can register.
Brigit van Dijk – Van de Reijt - general manager of BOM on behalf of the nine regional development companies:
The business community can make an unprecedented contribution to the innovative power of defence and vice versa. The SecFund thus strengthens the strategic autonomy and economic security in the Netherlands and contributes to the earning capacity in the long term.
