Together with Prime Minister Schoof, Minister Beljaarts (Economic Affairs) and many from our large ecosystem, Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau and Beau-Anne Chilla underline the importance of making choices if we want to develop, grow and be leading in deeptech. This was the subject of the fifth edition of Techleap's State of Dutch Tech 2025 where Holland High Tech was also present to contribute to the future of our hightech.
From the State of Dutch Tech 2025 report:
The Dutch deeptech ecosystem comprises 1,342 ventures, making up 12% of the total company population. The segment shows particular strength in early-stage ventures, with 1,223 startups representing 12% of the total startup landscape. Notably, the scaleup ratio of deeptech companies stands at 35%—nearly a third above the ecosystem average. This distribution indicates that the Dutch deeptech segment has built both a robust pipeline of innovative early-stage companies and a solid base of mature enterprises, establishing itself as a key segment in the technology landscape.
Making choices and building ecosystems, start-ups and financing opportunities
The State of Dutch Tech 2025 had a number of take-aways, not all of which were rosy:
- 23% decline in new start-ups in the Netherlands in 2024 is a wake-up call
- larger financing rounds are increasingly dominated by non-Dutch investors
- we will not achieve our 3% GDP investment target for innovation
+ the scale-up ratio of deeptech companies is 35%, almost a third above average
Making choices as already done in the National Technology Strategy (NTS) and the role of key technologies for our economic and social future were topics that were discussed extensively. In order to continue to compete internationally, we must actively build strong ecosystems in which technological start-ups and scale-ups can flourish. A call was made to realize more focus on financing and a better investment climate for deeptech and hightech companies in the Netherlands and Europe, to continue to build a robust ecosystem with collaboration between companies, knowledge institutions and governments sectorally and cross-sectorally to increase opportunities for the emergence of new start-ups. As a sector, we must continue to stimulate this cross-sectoral innovation to maximize social and economic impact.
At Holland High Tech we support the focus on the Key Technologies from the National Technology Strategy and we work with and in our sector on public-private partnerships (PPS) for research and innovation. Together we ensure that the Netherlands remains a top environment for deeptech and key technologies. Let us reverse the decline in new start-ups and continue to invest in a future-proof high-tech ecosystem where research can seamlessly transition to start-ups and scale-ups!
