Start-up technology companies have significant potential to drive innovation and progress. The Netherlands ranks 6th in Europe for public and private financing for companies, according to research by the European Patent Office (EPO). Dutch and other European start-ups, however, still face challenges, particularly in securing later-stage funding, which is crucial for scaling up their innovations.
In the Netherlands, approximately 5903 transactions took place between 2000 and 2023 by 1154 investors with total financing of €21.7 billion. This places the Netherlands 6th in Europe after the United Kingdom (€225 billion), Germany (€85 billion), France (€82 billion), Spain (€45 billion), and Sweden (€28 billion). The report highlights the vital role of investors in commercializing groundbreaking inventions. It shows that in Europe, primarily large government programs and specialized private investors are investing in technology.
Funding Gap Between European Start-Ups and Those in the US
Among the top 100 private investors in Europe, 62% focus on early-stage financing, while only 22% specialize in later-stage financing. As a result, there is limited capital available in Europe for scaling technologies and bringing inventions to market. In contrast, in the US, more than half of private investors specialize in later-stage companies, indicating stronger private support for scaling high-tech companies. This reveals a funding gap between European start-ups and those in the US.
Top 3 Dutch Investors
The top 3 Dutch investors include the European programs European Innovation Council (EIC) and the SME program Eurostars, both supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The third is major investor BOM Brabant Ventures.
8% of European Investors Highly Involved with Patent-Holding Start-Ups
The research further introduces the Technology Investor Score (TIS), a new measure designed to determine which investors specialize in technology. The TIS is based on the percentage of companies in an investors portfolio that have filed patent applications. It turns out that 88% of European investors have portfolios with one or more companies with patents. Of these, 8% have portfolios where more than half of the companies have patents, indicating a particularly strong involvement of these investors with patenting start-ups.