Dutch Deep Tech Fund hits €610M to back future champions

An additional €360 million is available to Dutch deep tech companies. Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Heleen Herbert announced today at the Hello Tomorrow tech conference that the Ministry plans to allocate an additional $130 million to the Deep Tech Fund. National investor Invest-NL is also committing an additional €230 million to the fund, bringing the total available to Dutch deep tech companies to € 610 million in the coming years.

The Deep Tech Fund invests in innovative Dutch companies developing groundbreaking technologies with significant economic and societal potential. These are knowledge-intensive companies in the early and growth stages, which often require substantial capital and face considerable technology and market risks. Securing financing isn't always straightforward at this stage, even though these companies are critical to the Netherlands' future earning potential, innovation capacity, and strategic position.

Minister Herbert said: "Deep tech companies have longer development timelines, greater technological risks, and often higher financing needs. At the same time, these are precisely the companies that can contribute most to our future earning potential, reduce strategic dependencies, and tackle major societal challenges. That's why it makes sense to invest more in this space — both publicly and privately."

Investing in key technologies

The Deep Tech Fund focuses on sectors identified in the National Technology Strategy where the Netherlands holds strong knowledge positions and economic opportunities. These include chip technology, quantum technology, photonics, nanotechnology, and advanced materials.

Since its launch, the Deep Tech Fund has invested €221 million. Portfolio companies include Nearfield Instruments, QuantWare, Axelera AI, and SMART Photonics. With the additional funding, the fund can continue making new and follow-on investments in deep tech companies looking to further develop, industrialize, and scale their technologies internationally.

Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest-NL: "Deep tech requires capital that looks beyond the short term and sometimes calls for larger investments. By significantly expanding our commitment alongside the Ministry, we can support more companies that are both technologically innovative and strategically important to the Netherlands. Together with our co-investors, we can help create Dutch world-class champions."

The Deep Tech Fund was launched in 2022 by the Ministry and Invest-NL to support knowledge-intensive startups and scaleups. The fund operates as a co-investment fund and is structured as an independent entity within Invest-NL. With the announced increases, both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Invest-NL now contribute €305 million each to the Deep Tech Fund.