The new Call for the Venture Challenge program is expected to open in early January. For the upcoming round, there are a few important changes. NWO publishes only one Call for proposals for the 2026 round with information about both the spring and autumn rounds.

Venture Challenge

Many scientific inventions do not reach the market. A key reason is that researchers often 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. In an intensive coaching trajectory of eight to ten weeks, researchers work together with experienced professionals on a solid business case. This prepares them for a successful start of their company.

For Whom

The upcoming 2026 Call again 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. 

Important Changes New Round

Compared to the previous round, several important changes have been implemented:

  • 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 20ac200,000, divided into 20ac100,000 for the spring round and 20ac100,000 for the autumn round. In this program, the subsidy covers the participation costs minus the own contribution. The own contribution per team amounts to:

  • 20ac2000 for participation of 3 team members
  • 20ac2500 for participation of 4 team members

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 program page.

Disclaimer 

This is solely an announcement of a proposed research program by NWO. The possibility to apply for funding is open after publication of a call for proposals in the Staatscourant.