NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Marc Habermehl, Jeroen Smits, David de Groot and Max de Heer, Stibbe
Stibbe Beethovenplein 10 1077 WM Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 020 546 0606 Email: Amsterdam@stibbe.com Web: www.stibbe.com
1. Trends 1.1 VC Market General Development of the Dutch Venture Capital Industry After reaching a peak in 2021, venture capital (VC) investments in the Netherlands somewhat slowed down in 2022 and 2023. Although VC investments in the Netherlands in 2024 amount - ed to approximately EUR2 billion, making them comparable to the year before, the investment levels remain lower than those in the peak year 2021. This is consistent with the global trend, where VC investments are down, mainly driven by high interest rates and the slacking IPO and exit environment. However, 2024 was a record-breaking year for Dutch venture capital fundraising. New VC funds raised over EUR3 billion in aggregate, which is mainly due to the incorporation of certain larger funds such as Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund III, Innovation Industries Fund III and For - bion Ventures Fund VII. The uncertainty stemming from rising trade tariffs and geopolitical tensions is expected to also affect the Dutch VC industry. However, the authors expect the Dutch VC market will con - tinue to be active, especially given the declin - ing interest rates (with the ECB lowering interest
to 2.25% in April 2025), the steady level of dry powder in the Dutch VC market and the Dutch government’s increased sense of urgency about becoming less dependent on foreign countries and investing more in defence, dual-use tech - nologies and deep tech. See the Dutch Trends and Developments chap - ter in this guide for an overview of the most note - worthy VC transactions in the Dutch VC market in 2024 and Q1 2025. Unless explicitly referred to a later date, the cut- off date for this article was 1 April 2025. In this chapter of the guide, both growth investments and venture capital investments are referred to as VC investments. Unless otherwise indicated, the statistics in this chapter of the guide are from the Dutch Association for Participation Compa - nies (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Participatie - maatschappijen or NVP), as made available prior to 6 May 2025. 1.2 Key Trends See the Dutch Trends and Developments chap - ter in this guide. 1.3 Key Industries See the Dutch Trends and Developments chap - ter in this guide.
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