In the many plans that came out on the third Tuesday of September, it was also about access to finance for entrepreneurs. And that funding is important, especially for a startup or scaleup. The Schoof-cabinet seems to want to work towards a better startup climate in the Netherlands, in which getting the right funding becomes more accessible. What are the exact plans around funding? We have listed them for you.
Plans for funding
The Schoof-cabinet has announced a number of plans to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs, especially for SMEs. So good news! These are the plans:
- The government plans to set up a financing hub to help SME entrepreneurs find suitable financing options.The hub will act as a central point where entrepreneurs can find information on different forms of financing and get advice.
- The government will continue the cooperation established under the National SME Financing Covenant.This covenant, in which banks, MKB-Nederland, Qredits and other parties participate, aims to create an optimal financing climate for SMEs.
- Invest-NL will receive more funding through 2029. The investment fund led by Rinke Zonneveld focuses on supporting innovative companies. Through targeted investments, Invest-NL should help startups grow into scaleups. Invest-NL will also get more opportunities to set up blended finance constructions. This involves using public funds to attract private capital for companies and projects with social added value.
- The government will continue to fund Techleap.nl for the next three years (until 2026) to strengthen the business climate for startups. After that, it will look at how Techleap.nl’s tasks can be structurally transferred to other public and private organisations.
- For the SEED Capital scheme, an additional tender will be opened in 2025 specifically for deep-tech investment funds.
- The government wants to improve SME entrepreneurs’ access to European financing opportunities. Consider, for example, taking advantage of programmes such as the EU multiannual budget, the European Investment Bank and the capital market union. The cabinet also wants to strengthen cooperation with Europe on SME financing.
It seems that the cabinet has positive plans for funding in the startup climate in the Netherlands. When the cabinet will take concrete steps to realise these plans is still unclear. The ongoing research by the Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Datacentrum (WODC) will hopefully shed more light on the actual interpretation and realisation for the plans.