Deep Tech Funds grow to € 610 million for Dutch key technology companies

The Deep Tech Fund invests in innovative Dutch enterprises working on groundbreaking technologies with significant economic and societal potential. These are knowledge-intensive companies in the early and growth phases, often requiring substantial capital and facing considerable technology and market risks. Financing is not always straightforward at this stage, whereas these companies are crucial for the future income-generating capacity, innovation strength, and strategic position of the Netherlands. 

Minister Heleen Herbert of Economic Affairs and Climate: “Deep tech companies have longer development times for their innovations, greater technological risks, and often a higher need for financing. At the same time, these are the companies that can contribute the most to our future earning power, reduce dependencies, and solve major societal challenges. Therefore, it is wise to invest additional public and private funds in this area.”

Investing in key technologies

The Deep Tech Fund focuses on domains from the National Technology Strategy in which the Netherlands has strong expertise and economic opportunities. Examples include chip technology, quantum technology, photonics, nanotechnology, and advanced materials. 

Since its inception, the Deep Tech Fund has invested € 221 million. Examples of companies in which the fund has invested include Nearfield Instruments, QuantWare, Axelera AI, and SMART Photonics. With these additional resources, the fund can continue making new investments and follow-on investments in deep tech companies over the coming years that aim to further develop, industrialize, and scale their technology internationally.  

Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest-NL: “Deep tech requires capital that looks beyond the short term and sometimes demands larger investments. By significantly increasing our efforts together with the ministry, we can support more companies that are technologically innovative and strategic for the Netherlands. Together with our co-investors, we can make Oranje world champions possible.”  

The Deep Tech Fund was launched in 2022 by the Ministry and Invest-NL as a fund for knowledge-intensive start-ups and scale-ups. The fund operates as a co-investment fund and is housed as an independent entity under Invest-NL. With the announced increases, both the Ministry of EZK and Invest-NL are now contributing € 305 million each to the Deep Tech Fund.