"Our ambitions are anything but small."

The Netherlands is a wonderful country, a ‘cool’ country as some people like to put it. But it could be better. When it comes to innovation and sustainability, we are not exactly at the forefront. Even though we all know that the future of our children depends on making major strides in precisely those areas.

After all, if we want to move towards an economy that produces less waste, emits less CO₂ and places less of a burden on the natural world while ensuring that essential services and facilities, from mobility to healthcare, remain available and affordable to all – if that is what we want – a lot needs to change. First and foremost, this requires innovative entrepreneurs. But it also calls for financiers who are not afraid to take a considerable risk and who have the patience to let new technologies mature.

We are just such a financier. We have a shareholder who understands that taking risks also means that things don’t always go as planned. But who is still willing to pour money into the future of the Netherlands. That shareholder is the Dutch State. Our capital comes from the treasury, and the Minister of Finance – as shareholder – keeps a watchful eye on whether we use it wisely. However, that does not make us a government organisation. We run our operation like any other business and have recruited most of our staff from the private sector.

We cannot meet these challenges alone.

Our strength lies in that combination of public and private. We also realise that we cannot do this alone, and that it makes no sense for us to crowd out other financiers. One thing should be clear from the outset: the measure of our success is the extent to which we can persuade others to join with us in financing complex projects. By our willingness to take a little more risk. Or by not being discouraged by the need for a major injection of capital. Or by virtue of our access to additional resources from Europe.

As of today, entrepreneurs and financiers can register with us on this website.

If they have a good business case. And if that case resonates with who we are and what we want to achieve. To those entrepreneurs who are innovative, keen to grow rapidly and take the energy transition a step further – to those entrepreneurs especially we say: come and meet us! And to all those financiers who share our ambition but can’t quite come up with the full financial package on their own, we say: come and talk to us, maybe we can find a way forward together! And if you’re still wondering if we are the right match for you, do the Quickscan on this website.

Starting today, it’s game on for us. This is also true for me personally. I am both thrilled and slightly daunted to be launching a major new initiative that does not yet exist in the Netherlands. One that is of vital importance to the future of our economy. Fortunately I have the privilege of doing so with a committed team of gifted colleagues and ambitious partners.

For Invest-NL, actions speak louder than words. Our aim is to quadruple the amount of risk capital for the energy transition within five years. We want to ensure that young, innovative companies here can scale up as successfully and as frequently as they do in Germany and the UK; which means the Netherlands needs to become twice as effective as it is today. These ambitions are anything but small. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are Invest-NL. We make the Netherlands more sustainable and more innovative. We make tomorrow possible.

Wouter Bos
CEO Invest-NL