NETHERLANDS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Marc Habermehl, Roderik Vrolijk and Max de Heer, Stibbe
their contribution in the form of an interest- free loan with a maximum term of 12 years. The investment per company is between EUR100,000 and EUR5 million. In October 2024, the Dutch government extend - ed the terms of the IK, the VFF and the Seed Capital schemes until 1 January 2030. Dutch Investment Bank In April 2025, a group of leading Dutch entre - preneurs and scientists called on the Dutch government, in an open letter, to centralise the various funding/financing channels into a cen - tral government investment vehicle, the Dutch investment bank. According to the authors of the letter, one Dutch investment bank would save overhead costs and provide clarity and scale. According to the authors of this letter, due to the lack of a central investment vehicle, the Dutch government often opts for subsidies, while in certain situations a loan or an equity investment would be the better option. The Minister of Eco - nomic Affairs has indicated that the government is working on consolidating the various public investment initiatives in the Netherlands and will announce further steps before the summer of 2025. Activity of Foreign VC Funds in the Netherlands Foreign VC funds invest significantly in Dutch companies. Figures show that, in investment rounds, the amount of money invested in Dutch companies by foreign VC funds is comparable to that invested by Dutch VC funds. In 2024, VC investments from foreign investors amount - ed to approximately EUR906 million and VC investments from domestic investors amounted to approximately EUR987 million. Foreign VC investors, however, primarily participate in larg -
er investment rounds, while smaller investment rounds are mainly driven by Dutch VC investors. VC Investments in the Defence Industry In recent years, geopolitical changes have led EU countries to significantly increase their defence spending. The Dutch government acknowledges the urgency of establishing an independent defence industry, as evidenced by the 16.3% increase in defence-related spending since 2020. Private investors have also shown growing interest in the defence sector. Accord - ing to data from Dealroom, VC investments in the European deep-tech defence, security and resilience start-ups increased from EUR1.1 bil - lion in 2019 to EUR5.2 billion in 2024. An example of a Dutch VC fund focusing on defence-related investments is the European Defence and Security Tech Fund from Keen Venture Partners, which aims to raise EUR125 million for investing in defence-related start- ups. Another notable investor in Dutch defence- related start-ups is the SecFund. This fund is a co-operation between the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the above- mentioned Regional Development Corporations. The SecFund provides investments of between EUR150,000 and EUR5 million per company and accounting for not more than 50% of the total investment need for the development of dual- use technology. Despite the growing interest from investors in defence-related investments, certain bottle - necks remain present. A PwC report prepared on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Defence identified the following issues in this regard. • ESG policies – investments in the defence industry may conflict with ESG policies adopted by (VC) investors. Many funds
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