The track forms part of the Medtech Breakthrough Pilot, an initiative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in which VWS, Health Holland, ZonMw, NWO, Taskforce for Applied Research SIA, Netherlands Enterprise Agency and Holland High Tech are collaborating on a coherent set of tools to accelerate the development, validation and implementation of labour-saving medical technology. Within the SME Call, the focus is on innovations that demonstrably contribute to net labour savings in the care process, within one of three themes: AI- and data-supported triage and diagnostics; smart alert systems, home monitoring and digital care interaction; or technological support for care processes.
For whom
The call is intended for consortia comprising at least one Dutch for-profit company and one Dutch research organisation, with the lead applicant being a company based in the Netherlands. Healthcare organisations, such as hospitals, are expressly invited to join, so that development and validation are closely aligned with real-world practice.
Grant
For each project, a PPP grant of between €225,000 and €450,000 may be applied for, with co-funding by the consortium partners being mandatory. Both Dutch SMEs and research organisations can apply for a maximum of €150,000 per party per project.
Key terms and conditions
A consortium comprising at least one profitable Dutch company (lead applicant) and one Dutch research organisation.
A declaration is required stating that the applicant SME is not a “company in difficulty”.
Mandatory use of the standard consortium agreement template (only minimal amendments permitted).
Project duration of between 1 and 2 years, focused on industrial research and/or experimental development (TRL 4–7).
Costs incurred by healthcare organisations during validation may be included in the budget, up to a maximum of 25 per cent of the total project budget.
Deadline for the full application: 20 November 2026, 17:00.
Submitting a similar proposal under the Science for Industry Call 2026 is not permitted.
Further information
For the full call for grant applications and all the necessary documents, please visit the Health Holland website.
