NETHERLANDS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Marc Habermehl, Roderik Vrolijk and Max de Heer, Stibbe
Outlook for 2025 Between 2020 and 2022, the abundance of pri - vate capital fuelled a peak in VC activity, creating a founder-friendly market with peak valuations. However, geopolitical instability and rising inter - est rates from 2022 onwards led to a market cool-down. As a result, the valuations of inno - vative start-ups and scale-ups, which had sky - rocketed during the peak years, have returned to “normal” levels. Over the past few years, VC investors have been holding off on exits, waiting for a more favourable deal climate, which in turn has impacted the level of investment rounds. Despite this and the current volatile macroeco - nomic and geopolitical environment, Q1 2025 has shown a stable continuation of the level of VC investment activity. The authors expect the Dutch VC market to remain active throughout 2025, mainly driven by declining interest rates (with the ECB lowering interest to 2.25% in April 2025), high levels of dry powder, and continued support from Dutch and European backed VC funds (also in view of the increased sense of urgency of becoming less dependent on foreign countries and investing more in defence, dual- use technologies and deep tech). Dutch Government’s Involvement in the VC Industry The Dutch government remains an active player in the Dutch VC arena. According to data from Dealroom, out of the ten most active VC funds, five are government backed funds. The Dutch government recognises that VC investments are essential in boosting the energy transition, the healthcare sector and digitalisation. Since recently, this also applies to boosting the defence industry (see the paragraph on VC Investments in the Defence Industry for more information on this specific topic). Therefore, the Dutch gov - ernment stimulates VC investment by means
record year in 2024, raising over EUR3 billion. The most notable funds raised include the fol - lowing. • Forbion Growth Opportunities III (EUR1.2 billion) – focuses on later-stage European and North American biopharma companies developing novel therapies for high medical- need areas. • Forbion Ventures Fund VII (EUR890 million) – aims to build a portfolio of innovative biotech companies focused on therapeutics, includ - ing both established firms and new ventures co-founded by Forbion. • Innovation Industries Fund III (EUR500 million) – invests in deep-tech companies across the Benelux and Germany. Investors include pen - sion funds such as PME, PMT and ABP, as well as banks like ABN AMRO and Rabobank, alongside public investors such as Invest-NL and the European Investment Fund. • SET Fund IV (EUR200 million) – targets European start-ups developing digital-first, data-driven solutions to accelerate the mass- market adoption of renewable energy tech - nologies. • Infinity Recycling Circular Plastics Fund I (EUR175 million) – aims to make 10–14 investments in companies working with waste valorisation technologies that convert end-of- life plastic waste into virgin grade commodi - ties. These fundraisings highlight strong investor interest in the biopharma, deep-tech and cli - mate-tech sectors in the Netherlands. Addition - ally, the continued involvement of public inves - tors, such as the European Investment Fund and Invest-NL, remains a positive factor in support - ing VC fund growth.
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