From startup to global player: Techleap calls for room to grow
For the parliamentary debate with Minister Heleen Herbert, Techleap highlights six bottlenecks: from employee ownership to growth capital.
Published on October 31, 2026
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The Netherlands invests in research, talent and new technology. But how can it ensure these investments produce international companies that continue to grow in the country? That question underpins the position paper Techleap prepared for the parliamentary committee debate on startups and scaleups on October 28 with Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Heleen Herbert. Representing the organisation, Krijn van Beers and Marije Dijksma call for an approach that strengthens every stage of business growth. Additional capital for scaleups can only achieve so much if fewer new startups are coming through.
The debate’s agenda included the venture capital market, pension funds’ involvement in Invest-NL and European rules on companies in financial difficulty. Techleap connects these issues to a broader concern: the Netherlands has strong research institutions and internationally successful technology companies, yet is not doing enough to turn those advantages into new high-growth businesses.
The figures the organisation cites from the State of Dutch Tech 2026 report illustrate that concern. The number of new startups raising more than €100,000 in private capital fell from 188 in 2023 to 117 in 2025: a decline of 38 per cent. According to the position paper, 21.6 per cent of startups become scaleups, compared with a European average of 24.1 per cent.
More is at stake than the success of individual entrepreneurs. If companies scale elsewhere, Techleap argues, the Netherlands risks missing out on the returns from the knowledge and talent it previously invested in.
Giving employees a share in success
One way to support growth is employee ownership. Startups usually lack the cash to match the salaries offered by established technology companies. Stock options can help bridge that gap, giving employees a chance to share in their company’s success.
According to Techleap, employees hold just 3.5 per cent of the equity in Dutch companies at exit, compared with almost 20 per cent among international leaders. Broader employee ownership can also encourage new business creation. Employees who build wealth can use it to start their own company or invest in other startups.
The organisation therefore asks parliament to approve the proposed legislation on tax incentives for startups and scaleups, with implementation on January 1, 2027. Under the arrangement Techleap describes, employees would pay tax only when they sell, at a rate aligned with what founders and investors pay.
Government as the first major customer
Government can also contribute directly to growth by becoming a customer. A first major contract gives a young company revenue and a reference that can help convince subsequent customers and investors.
According to the position paper, the Netherlands is using this opportunity less. In a European assessment of spending on innovation procurement, the country fell from third to twelfth place. Of the more than €1 billion in public procurement for research and development, the figures cited indicate that 95 per cent goes towards studies and consultancy, with just 5 per cent spent on developing or testing products.
Techleap wants a renewed national target for innovation procurement, supported by monitoring. A fixed share of R&D procurement should also be reserved for startups and scaleups. The organisation also sees opportunities to connect the NADI innovation initiative with public buyers such as the Ministry of Defence and Rijkswaterstaat, the national infrastructure and water management agency. This would give technology developed with public support a clearer route to a customer.
Early investors are essential to future scaleups
According to Techleap, the government is taking steps to enable larger funding rounds, including through Invest-NL and the Deep Tech Fund. But that does not resolve the problems at the start of the growth journey.
Early-stage investment is under particular pressure. Techleap therefore calls for a decision by spring 2027 at the latest on a tax incentive scheme for business angels: private investors who often provide young companies with experience and contacts alongside their money.
The organisation also wants to know how the government intends to reverse the decline in early-stage investment and calls for cuts to the Toekomstfonds, or Future Fund, to be reversed permanently. The reasoning is straightforward: to have more large technology companies in a few years, you need enough new businesses today.
European rules must enable growth
European rules also create a bottleneck for deeptech companies. They often spend years developing technology before generating their first commercial revenues. Making losses during that period can be part of a promising business model.
Yet, according to Techleap, European state aid rules can quickly classify such companies as an ‘undertaking in difficulty’. This can exclude them from support schemes. Common financing instruments, such as convertible loans, are not automatically recognised as equity in that assessment either.
Techleap therefore asks Herbert to advocate in Europe for the proposed 15+5 regime, under which innovative companies would be exempt from the prohibition on aid to undertakings in difficulty during their first fifteen years. The assessment should also better reflect how these companies are financed.
The organisation also wants to prevent EU Inc, the proposed European legal form, from being reduced to little more than a fast incorporation procedure. Techleap argues that the proposal must make cross-border business genuinely easier, including through a central digital register and a broad European framework for stock options.
Turning more research into businesses
A fifth priority concerns research institutions. According to the Dutch Spin-off Report 2026, the number of researchers has increased by 28 per cent since 2015, while the number of new spin-offs has fallen by 2 per cent.
Techleap wants the ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Education, Culture and Science to jointly commit to quadrupling the impact of spin-offs by 2035: twice as many companies, growing twice as fast. This requires time and funding for entrepreneurial researchers, experienced entrepreneurs working alongside scientific founders, and faster intellectual property transfers.
National support should go hand in hand with implementation at universities. Standard agreements can prevent each new business from having to negotiate the same terms again and again.
Employment rules for unpredictable growth
Finally, Techleap calls for a labour market better suited to companies whose growth is difficult to predict. The organisation highlights the financial risks of prolonged salary payments during sickness and the complexity of dismissal procedures.
These proposals also touch on employee protection. Among other measures, Techleap advocates a collective arrangement covering the second year of sickness for small employers, alongside room to test alternatives. For employment contracts above a certain salary threshold, it wants to allow notice periods and compensation to be agreed in advance.
The six proposals show the breadth of the task facing Herbert. International growth requires investors, customers, talent and rules that work together. For Techleap, that is the political challenge: ensuring a good idea born in the Netherlands also has the opportunity to grow into an international company there.