A special partnership with a shared ambition: taking Dutch tech to a global level

Techleap's mission is to bring the start-up ecosystem to the next level by working on the main bottlenecks. These include availability of growth capital, access to the right talent, and support in internationalising and launching new, promising technologies on the market. Maurice: 'In terms of jobs, tech is already the fastest growing sector in the Netherlands. We need to ensure, as a country, that we are the leaders in multiple technologies. This will make us not only a tech buyer but a tech supplier as well, which will ensure further economic growth, jobs, and prosperity. At Techleap, we focus primarily on scale-ups and supporting them in their growth.

Scale-ups that grow into companies that are relevant on a global scale can then serve as role models, coaches, connectors, and investors for the next generation.

The objectives of the partnership between Techleap and Invest-NL are to quadruple the amount of venture capital for the energy transition over the next five years and to double the number of start-ups that grow into successfully funded scale-ups. This should enable the Netherlands to become one of the top three in Europe in the field of tech investments.

Invest-NL occupies a unique position in the financing of the technological and innovative ecosystem.

There is a great deal of interaction within the partnership. Maurice: 'Techleap collaborates with many people at Invest-NL. We discuss new developments with Wilco Schoonderbeek and Frits de Vries, actual investments with Leo Holwerda and Ruud Zandvliet, and specific matters such as sustainability with Yvonne Neef.'

Invest-NL's energetic, pragmatic attitude has been especially positive for Maurice: 'Invest-NL really follows through. The activities in the field of sustainability and energy transition and the fact that the organisation was able to support a large number of medical technology companies during the COVID-19 crisis is impressive.' Leo: 'The COVID-19 crisis was a positive challenge for our partnership. We collaborated closely in introducing the Coronavirus Bridging Loan (Corona-Overbruggingslening, or COL) and the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme for Innovative Start-ups and Scale-ups (Tijdelijke Overbruggingskrediet Programma innovatieve Start-ups en Scale-ups, or TOPSS). Together with the regional development authorities and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, hundreds of early-stage companies were helped by these programmes during the COVID-19 crisis. We also explored the challenges together, such as how to help those companies that have real potential but were struggling due to COVID-19. In such a situation, it is important to know how to deal with disappointment when companies and individuals do not agree with you. Setting up a new Deeptech Fund, which we are working on together, is also unique. It will help companies that have wonderful innovations, but that require a long research trajectory, to get more funding.'