Dutch deeptech scaleups seek attention from politicians and investors

The contrast was impossible to ignore: while the top Dutch deeptech scaleups made a desperate plea to get the much-desired attention from politicians and investors, the interest in that message in the small room at Nieuwspoort was so great that there wasn't even a seat for everyone. There were politicians, investors, government officials, entrepreneurs, and journalists, who were precisely the audience for which the NTS Tech Champions' message was intended. And yet, to all present, it felt like these were not the people who needed convincing.

Indeed, the meeting in Nieuwspoort had a high “preaching-to-own-parish” content. Everyone addressed each other by first name; no one needed an introduction. We saw politicians and EZ employees who were already sympathetic to the desire for a consistent, innovation-friendly policy. We heard investors who had already demonstrated extensively that deeptech scaleups were high on their list of priorities.

Techleap was there with Constantijn van Oranje and VNO-NCW with Ingrid Thijssen: they have been propagating the core idea of the manifesto for many years. And the entrepreneurs present were mainly the senders of the message themselves and their direct network. So, it will depend, to a large extent, on the assessment of the journalists present to determine whether the so-fervently advocated desire of the Tech Champions reaches the intended audience. All the more so because chairman Eline van Beest left no misunderstanding that there is no need to count on extra money for lobbying or marketing.

It was shouting with a gag in the mouth, boxing with hands tied behind the back; the discrepancy between the immense importance of the message and the powerlessness of the performers expressed several times was palpable. Above all, let it be clear that the NTS Tech Champions are fighting a crucial battle, especially in the current political climate. In times when internationalization is being fiddled with, higher education is being drastically cut back, and potential unicorns are threatening to leave for the U.S. because they can get their funding there, it feels extra sour that the very companies that can offer solutions to some of society's biggest challenges are barely keeping their heads above water.

Then, we get to the need for movement on all those issues rightly raised by the ten scaleups and their supporters. According to the initiators, this boils down to three desires:

• A consistent long-term policy that focuses on the future industries for which the Netherlands can make a difference and supports scaleups over the next 10-20 years.

• Faster, streamlined access to money and other resources - from grants to public infrastructure - so that tech companies can keep up with the pace of innovation.

• Risks that no longer rest solely on the shoulders of scaleups but are borne jointly with government, universities, and the private sector, ensuring that deeptech entrepreneurs can compete globally.

In a panel discussion, all of these issues came up. “The government often takes years for decisions where these scaleups have at most a few months,” said TNO director Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi (TNO). To add immediately, “But that is not so strange if you know it is taxpayer money. We have to be careful with that.” For Tjin-A-Tsoi, the gaps are mainly on the market side. “We are short of private investment in risky ventures.”

Need for long-term vision

Yet that is not the whole story, Koenraad Wiedhaup of Leyden Labs added. "The government takes so long to reach decisions that when an application is finally granted, I sometimes have to think very hard about what it was for. We are then many steps further along in our development. We have no choice; we must work with the urgency of the pandemic in our industry." No matter how quickly work must be done, that does not alter the fact that there is a great need for long-term visibility. Tjin-A-Tsoi: "The money in the government is scattered over a lot of small pots. A scaleup that gets support one time can easily miss the boat for the next phase, causing things to go wrong."

Onno van de Stolpe (formerly Galapagos, now Protix, among others) could confirm that. "The initial financing was okay for Protix. But now we need a four times bigger plant with an investment of 250 million; nobody wants that. That's what we had the National Growth Fund for, right? Or invest-NL? That that kind of money doesn't come off here, that bothers me." Gert-Jan Vaessen (Invest-NL) said he did understand that, but at the same time, he had to make choices. "Seven of the ten companies standing here today have received our support. We always pull together with private partners. But that is not always easy because we are risk-averse here, and foreign parties still have difficulty finding the Netherlands." Vaessen noted that the recent activities of the pension funds - together accounting for 1,600 billion in capital - are a good signal.

Our children and grandchildren

The most appealing appeal this evening came from Ingrid Thijssen (VNO-NCW). She combined praise for the ten entrepreneurs with a palpable cry for help. Her comparison with the US ("25 years ago we were just as rich, now that country has far surpassed us, just because they did consistently boost their technology sector") was appealing, as was her look at declining labor productivity, which could get a positive boost thanks to deeptech scaleups. "It's about the future of our country. It's about our children and our grandchildren. Soon, we will still be a prosperous country where we also make enough money to pay our cops, nurses, and teachers. And eventually have enough people to make that money together. That requires a long-term vision that unfortunately is not there now."

“We are optimistic because we still have a chance to do the right thing,” Mattijs Slee concluded the evening. “But it is five to twelve. So, above all, help us sharpen and then get our manifesto implemented.”