On this sunny day, over 120 visitors came together from more than 40 participating projects from rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the National Growth Fund. The congress was the moment to gain knowledge, network and learn from each other. It was a full program, spread over various rooms, a conservatory and an outdoor terrace, where interaction was the main theme.

Further after the Main Lines Agreement

The day started in the plenary hall, where chair Tom Jessen opened the conference, together with Director General of Economy and Digitalization of EKZ Michiel Boots and advisory committee member Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau. A current topic was immediately addressed: the future of innovative Netherlands and the responsibility of the National Growth Fund. According to the speakers, the decision in the Main Lines Agreement to cancel the fourth round is a great disappointment. Nevertheless, they emphasized to remain hopeful and to focus on what has already been achieved and what can still be achieved without subsidies. Boots: “There is funding, but it now needs to be deployed even more efficiently. Many wonderful projects still need to be rolled out and bear fruit, which will give an enormous boost to the Dutch innovation landscape.” If that succeeds, the speakers conclude, it will also send a strong signal to our society and politics and the Netherlands will remain a strong innovation country.

Entrepreneurship as a driver for innovation

Following on, Jacques van den Broek, as chairman of the Dutch Committee for Entrepreneurship, reflected in his keynote on entrepreneurship as an essential ingredient for innovation and the importance of knowledge development. With strong advice: “As a project, trust yourself and persevere even in the face of setbacks. It is always about today and sales; how do you sell it, who is the customer and where is the demand.” With this message, he fittingly linked up with the NGF slogan: ‘Tomorrow’s prosperity starts today.’

No growth without financing

After Jacques’ keynote, an interactive panel took place, led by NGF director Maurice van Tilburg. Funding experts Evelien de Vries (ASML), Beau-Anne Chilla (FORWARD.one) and Victor van Will (MN Services) spoke extensively about the need for financing innovation and their experiences. The core of the conversation? You cannot grow without financing. The panelists also agreed that Europe still has a lot to gain in the future-proof financing of start-ups and companies that want to grow.

Sharing knowledge and valuable insights

After the short networking break, two informative sub-sessions followed. One session on dealing with changes in your projects and how people can help each other to be more agile. The other session focused on attracting private financing. Afterwards, the attendees came together again in the plenary hall for two stimulating presentations. Koen Maaskant spoke about the most important innovation obstacles from the Gritd Research Report. Gritd uses data from start-ups to measure their milestones and help them move forward. Maaskant: “Data is incredibly important to use, among other things to map out progress and growth. And to monitor and evaluate how much impact you make as an entrepreneur.” Nico van Meeteren of Health Holland emphasized the importance of future innovation initiatives, such as in the Bidbook to which various top sectors are affiliated. With this, he wants to make politicians realize that investing in innovation is and remains important. Van Meeteren: “We are happy to offer this Bidbook together with you and on your behalf. We do not want to ask politicians for financing, but for an obligation to make an effort in the area of ​​legislation and regulations and to show enthusiasm.”

The Netherlands as an innovative country

Advisory committee members Marieke Blom and Michiel Muller concluded the conference with their view on the current National Growth Fund projects and the role of the government. According to them, now that round four of the National Growth Fund has not gone ahead, it is even more important to realise the impact of current projects. What can be the greatest impact of the National Growth Fund itself? Not only an impulse in the innovation capacity in the projects but also between the projects. In which sustainable cooperation and strong partnerships play a key role.

The National Growth Fund conference ‘Future of Dutch Innovation' was concluded with this strong message. It is clear that there are plenty of opportunities and a great deal of enthusiasm to give the future of Dutch innovation a boost. A future that more than 50 Growth Fund projects continue to work on and will have an impact on.