The SME Hightech call challenges entrepreneurs to work on innovative projects aligning with innovation domains over a two-year period, in collaboration with research organizations. In total, we received 64 project proposals earlier this year. Following thorough evaluation, 30 of these projects proceeded to Phase 2. These projects were required to submit a detailed project plan, which was also thoroughly and expertly evaluated and assessed. As a result, we can announce that 11 projects will receive financial support from the SME Hightech call 2025.
With a total budget of €5 million, the call supports industrial research focusing on the development and application of key technologies. In doing so, Holland High Tech strengthens the knowledge base and R&D capacity of SMEs, enabling innovations to be brought to market faster and more effectively.
Leo Warmerdam, Executive director Holland High Tech:
“The Dutch high-tech SME sector is the engine of our innovative strength. It is precisely these companies, with their speed, specialized knowledge, and entrepreneurship, that develop the technologies that contribute to solutions for societal challenges as well as to our economic resilience. In a geopolitical playing field where technological independence is becoming increasingly important, investing in innovation is crucial. With the SME High-Tech Call, Holland High Tech supports collaboration between SMEs, research organizations, and supply chain partners, enabling promising innovations to accelerate their development into applications that make the Netherlands stronger, smarter, and more competitive.”
11 awarded projects in a row
Q-INSPECT
Onnes Technologies in collaboration with TNO
Spin qubits in silicon-germanium heterostructures are among the most promising pathways to scalable, manufacturable quantum chips. Q-INSPECT develops and validates Low-Temperature Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (LT-KPFM) — the first operando, nanoscale, millikelvin metrology platform for spin-qubit characterisation.
Innovation domain: Quantum Technologies
Systems Engineering for Physics Intensive Systems
Ratio Computer Aided Systems Engineering in collaboration witht Ignition Computing, NWO-I, TU/e
Physics-heavy megaprojects often run over schedule due to extreme technical complexity and physical challenges. The development of a nuclear fusion reactor is the epitome of engineering and physics. This project connects top‑down systems engineering with bottom‑up simulations in the context of nuclear fusion to improve the design of complex systems in general.
Innovation domain: Systems Engineering
H2NANO Operando Nanoscale Insights for Hydrogen Catalysts
Leiden Probe Microscopy in collaboration with NWO-I
Groene waterstof is een hoeksteen van de Europese strategie voor de energietransitie. Efficiëntie, duurzaamheid Green hydrogen is a cornerstone of the European strategy for the energy transition. The efficiency, sustainability, and costs of electrolysis systems depend crucially on the performance of the catalysts. Despite investments in catalyst research, progress remains empirical, as no measurement technique exists that can correlate the surface structure at the atomic level, the electronic properties, and the local electrochemical activity under operational conditions. This project addresses this measurement gap by developing two operando electrochemical scanning probe microscopy techniques.
Innovation domain: Energy Materials
FLUX-HTRA
Fluxthor in collaboration with met TU Delft
Emerging technologies in sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, advanced inspection systems, quantum technologies, cryogenic instrumentation, electron beam microscopy, and space instrumentation rely on precise motion control to produce reliable measurements, fabricate microscopic structures, and ensure consistent system performance. This project develops FLUX-HTRA, a novel actuator combining reluctance-based actuation with reluctance tuning modules that can alter reluctance.
Innovation domain: Mechatronics & Optomechatronics
INOCAP
Morphotonics in collaboration with TNO
The INOCAP project develops a new generation nano‑imprint lithography (NIL) machine for advanced semiconductor packaging. In a joint study by Morphotonics and TNO, an imprint concept is being designed and tested with improved process stability and reduced deformation for panels up to 700×700 mm. Hereby a prototype will be developed with ±1 µm overlay accuracy, essential for cost‑efficient, low‑waste high‑volume chip production.
Innovation domain: Semiconductor Technologies
WEEDLESS-AQUATIC-DRONE
Van Dijk FEM Engineering in collaboration with INDYMO B.V. en Hanzehogeschool Groningen
This project concerns industrial research into a new propulsion concept for, among other things, autonomous aquatic drones used for water quality monitoring in often shallow, vegetated, and debris-filled waters. Current drones with propellers often become entangled in vegetation or debris, making autonomous missions less reliable. The research aims to determine whether a new propulsion concept can provide a reliable and energy-efficient solution for this.
Innovation domain: Mechatronics & Optomechatronics
Device Agnostic AI-Powered Magic State Factories
MagiQware in collaboration with University of Amsterdam
This project develops AI-based optimization methods for fault-tolerant quantum computing. By improving the efficiency of the magic state factory, a major bottleneck in quantum hardware, the project aims to reduce resource requirements and accelerate practical deployment. The collaboration combines scientific research with software innovation and contributes to the Netherlands’ position in quantum technologies.
Innovation domain: Quantum Technologies
BB-CAD
Kaminari Medical in collaboration with Erasmus MC
Every year, more than four million patients worldwide undergo a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease. A significant proportion experience recurrent cardiac symptoms within a year — not because the procedure failed, but because dangerous plaques in the coronary arteries went undetected. In the BB-CAD project, Kaminari Medical and the Erasmus MC Thorax Center jointly develop a broadband signal processing pipeline that converts the raw photoacoustic signal into quantitative, clinically interpretable plaque characterisation.
Innovation domain: Imaging Technologies
QUARTET
QSA Technology in collaboration with TU/e
Quantum communication networks are becoming critical infrastructure, but their authentication layer remains a weak point. QUARTET closes this gap using photonic Physical Unclonable Functions: optical chips whose unique spectral properties are impossible to clone, read out using quantum light to make silent interception physically impossible. Unlike purely mathematical approaches, these security guarantees are rooted in the laws of physics itself.
Innovation domain: Quantum Technologies
STEADY
Syntric Medical in collaboration with TU/e
Syntric Medical is collaborating in the STEADY project with the Robotics department of TU/e on a technology to perform CT-guided procedures for lung tissue sampling. This involves safely and accurately positioning a needle in a patient while they are breathing. A digital twin system as well as the mechatronics and control system are being developed.
Innovation domain: Mechatronics & Optomechatronics
VISTA-3D
Raynetics Technologies in collaboration with NWO-I
VISTA-3D is a collaboration between Raynetics Technologies B.V. and CWI to develop a physics-informed, AI-accelerated software prototype for 3D volumetric imaging of advanced semiconductors. It aims to reconstruct buried device structures from as few as 7 electron microscopy projections, cutting characterisation time from days to hours and enabling routine subsurface metrology.
Innovation domain: Imaging Technologies
