“Invest-NL is in top gear”

“Our team has doubled since the start of May, yet our workload of financing applications continues to grow. This rapid rate of growth is fantastic, but we didn’t expect it to come so soon.”

How do you look back on the first six months of Invest-NL?
“When we finally got the go-ahead in mid-January, we had our work cut out for us from the very start. Innovative entrepreneurs and other investors were beating a path to our door. We had been up and running for less than two months when suddenly we had Covid-19 to handle, on top of everything else. There we were, hard at work forming the perfect team and all at once we found ourselves working from home. To be frank, the whole thing has been quite a challenge but now we hardly know any better. Before long we had developed and marketed the TOPSS programme, a temporary bridging credit programme for innovative start-ups and scale-ups. Dozens of applications have now been received. The people on my team are working long days and there’s been no question of sitting back and waiting to see how things go.”

Trying times for an ambitious company that’s just out of the starting blocks?
“Yes and no. No, because this is what Invest-NL was set up to do. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning and raring to go. Being called on to give our all from day one is something I can only see as positive and inspiring. It fires us up to see just how eager entrepreneurs are to make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative! But there’s also a downside. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs and other financiers are having to wait a bit longer before we can let them know if we want to be part of their projects. Although our Capital team has doubled in size since the start of May, the current influx of applications is still bigger than our existing team can handle. This is partly because we also want to give new colleagues the chance to on-board properly, and that takes time.”

What does all this mean for entrepreneurs and other financiers? Can they still come to you?
“Of course, they are still very welcome to come to us. For us it’s business as usual, right through the summer holiday season. By doing our Quickscan, you can immediately get a sense of whether your proposition chimes with our investment policy. However, it may take a little longer for us to immerse ourselves in the ins and outs of a proposition and provide feedback. Fortunately, we work with a range of external advisors who are also ready to lend a hand. But to be honest, things are sometimes taking longer than we’d like at present.”

Looking ahead, how do you see the rest of the year shaping up?
“I expect us to be powering ahead in top gear right up to the end of this year. That said, we are becoming more efficient at bringing new colleagues up to speed and we will certainly be welcoming more new people to the team. We are still on the lookout for gifted professionals who want to join us in making a difference. I also expect that in the coming months we will be able to close more deals and provide entrepreneurs with financing. Apart from the positive buzz this generates, it also gives us room to pick up new propositions.”