The third quarter was primarily driven by two major funding rounds of around €200 million: General Intuition and Euclyd. The median round size was around €3 million, slightly lower than in Q2. As a result, the overall picture remains heavily dependent on a limited number of large funding rounds.
Capital continues to flow to later stages
The proportion of large funding rounds remains high. Series B+ deals (€15 million and up) account for 83.9% of the total amount invested. Through Q3 of 2026, there have already been 39 Series B+ deals—the same number as in all of 2025.
Early-stage funding remains a focus
In the early stage, the picture is mixed. The number of pre-seed deals (less than 1 million euros) rose from 6 to 11 compared to Q2, accounting for 20% of deals with disclosed amounts. The number of seed deals (from 1 to 4 million euros) fell from 23 to 20.
Top 10 largest investment rounds in Q3 2026
General Intuition - $220 million
Euclyd - €200 million
Fortaegis - €50 million
Morphotonics - €40 million
Kynexis - €40 million
Ore Energy - $43 million
Monumental - $32 million
Crisp - €25 million
Carbeau - €23.7 million
Keiron - €20.7 million
‘We shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch’
Lucien Burm, chairman of the Dutch Startup Association: "We shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch. Investments are significantly higher than last year, but the momentum is faltering. If the rest of the world grows faster, we’ll still be falling behind. We need more clout at all levels. Initiatives such as the National Investment Institution (NADI) and the Seed Capital Program require significantly more public and private capital than is currently allocated. We’re not there yet.”
'Ensuring a sufficient number of early-stage startups'
Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest NL: “The fact that we in the Netherlands have already invested substantially more in startups and scale-ups than we will in 2025 is a very positive sign. However, it’s important that we ensure there are enough early-stage startups. The question on my mind is whether that pipeline is slowly drying up or whether these companies are increasingly raising funds ‘under the radar.’”
About the Quarterly Startup Report
The Quarterly Startup Report is a quarterly, curated data analysis by Dealroom.co, Golden Egg Check, KPMG, Invest-NL, the Regional Development Agencies (ROMs), the Dutch Association of Private Equity Firms (NVP), and Techleap, led by the Dutch Startup Association (dSa).
