The Netherlands is among the top 4 EU markets for technology investments with public and private funding that stimulates innovation, according to research by the European Patent Office (EPO). It also ranks 5th in Europe when it comes to the number of deals by the most active tech investors. This shows that technology start-ups have significant potential to stimulate innovation and progress.
In the Netherlands, some 5,903 transactions were completed by 1,154 investors in the period 2000-2023, with a total financing of €21.7 billion. Dutch and other European start-ups still face challenges, especially with late-stage financing. This type of financing is crucial for scaling up innovations. The report highlights the vital role of investors in the commercialisation of breakthrough inventions. It shows that in Europe, it is mainly large government programmes and specialised private investors who invest in the technology. This exposes a financing gap between European start-ups and those in the US.
The Netherlands centre for technological investments
The top 3 Dutch technology investors are the European programmes European Innovation Council (EIC) and the SME programme Eurostars, both of which are supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The bottom of the list is major investor BOM Brabant Ventures. These 3 investors, together with other Dutch innovation institutions, contribute significantly to the growing role of the Netherlands as a technological investment centre in Europe.
Strong involvement in patented start-ups
The research also introduces a new measurement method, the Technology Investor Score (TIS). This method measures the percentage of companies in an investor's portfolio that have filed patent applications. The method was designed to determine which investors are specialised in technology and reveals that 88% of European investors have portfolios with companies with patents. In addition, 8% of investors have portfolios in which more than half of the companies have patents. This shows a particularly strong involvement of investors in patenting start-ups.
