The 2026 round of the Venture Challenge program is now open. For this round, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) has made a budget of €200,000 available. NWO publishes one Call for proposals for the 2026 round with information about both the spring and autumn rounds.

Purpose of the call

The cabinet is focusing its mission-driven innovation policy on harnessing the innovative power of top sectors to solve major societal challenges. At the same time, it aims to strengthen the international competitive position of the Netherlands. Scientific research can play an important role, but many discoveries do not reach the market. This is often because researchers lack sufficient knowledge and experience to turn their ideas into a market-ready product or to build a commercial organization.

The Venture Challenge program offers a solution here. In the coaching trajectory of eight to ten weeks, researchers work together with professionals, such as business coaches and experts, on a well-thought-out business case. This way, researchers are prepared for a successful start of their company.

For whom

The Venture Challenge targets teams of three or four people who have founded or plan to found a new start-up in the field of Life Sciences & Health. The product, process, or service must fall under medical devices, medicines, or other innovations within these broad domains. 

Per round, the spring and autumn rounds, six teams can participate. The coaching trajectory of the spring round will take place between May and June 2026. The trajectory for the autumn round takes place between November 2026 and February 2027.

Important changes new round

Compared to the previous round, some important changes have been made:

  • This Call for proposals covers all rounds of 2026. No separate Call for proposals will be published for the spring and autumn rounds;
  • There is no separate round for medical devices, as in the 2025 autumn round. Medical devices now fall under the general theme Life Sciences & Health.

Budget

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has set the subsidy ceiling for this round at €200,000, divided into €100,000 for the spring round and €100,000 for the autumn round. In this program, the subsidy covers the costs of participation minus the own contribution. The own contribution per team is:

  • €2000 for participation of 3 team members
  • €2500 for participation of 4 team members

Deadlines

The deadlines for submitting applications are as follows:

  • Spring round, on February 3, 2026, at 14:00:00 CET.
  • Autumn round, on July 2, 2026, at 14:00:00 CET.

Partners

NWO collaborates for this call with the top sector Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland). More information about this collaboration and the top sectors can be found on the https://www.nwo.nl/onderzoeksprogrammas/venture-challenge.