Minister Heleen Herbert (Economic Affairs and Climate) has informed the House of Representatives of this. The Ministry of EZK and Invest-NL launched the DTF in 2022. At the time, the fund amounted to €250 million, of which €175 million was contributed by EZK and the remainder by Invest-NL. EZK is now making an additional €130 million available, and Invest-NL is increasing its contribution by €230 million. As a result, they are now both contributing €305 million. The government’s start-up and scale-up policy is specifically aimed at strengthening the position of deep tech companies in the Netherlands and Europe.
Minister Heleen Herbert:
“Deep tech companies have longer development times for their innovations, greater technological risks and often a greater need for funding. At the same time, it is precisely these companies that can make the greatest contribution to our future earning capacity, reduce dependencies and solve major societal challenges. That is why it is sensible for both the public and private sectors to invest more in this area.”
It is often difficult to secure funding for innovations that are knowledge-intensive – and therefore require significant capital. These are often new technologies that have not yet (fully) proven themselves and which involve relatively high risks for investors. For example, in sectors such as photonics, semiconductors, AI, quantum technology and nanotechnology.
Investments made by the Deep Tech Fund to date
The investments made by the DTF to date paint a positive picture in terms of both social and economic impact. They have now stimulated further research and development (R&D), created high-quality jobs and attracted nearly €400 million in private investment.
Through co-investments with private sector partners, the fund currently achieves a leverage ratio of approximately 2.4x, which is expected to grow further in the coming years. This distributes the risks more evenly between public and private parties and strengthens private investors’ confidence in strategic deep-tech innovations.
