(Editor’s note: This post on RVO is the first installment in a multi-part series about the various economic development entities in the Netherlands that can help you build your startup. It’s part of Dispatches’ Tech Tuesday series. Full disclosure: Dispatches works with several of these agencies helping startups optimize pitch decks and coaching them on doing business in the United States.)
A lot of highly skilled internationals arrive in the Netherlands as students or as recruits for tech companies such as Philips, ASML or NXP. Many end up as entrepreneurs and founders of startups in Eindhoven, Delft or Amsterdam.
If you’re an American, you find out pretty quickly that founding a startup is far different here than in the U.S. While there isn’t a lot of private early stage capital or networks of angel investors, the Dutch government itself could become your long-term partner, with everything from funding to trade missions.
Here’s where it gets complicated. There are myriad economic development entities, and they start in your backyard in the form of regional organizations such as Brabant Development Agency, or BOM, based in Tilburg. But depending on your business category – energy transition, agriculture, semiconductor, healthcare or “other ” – there are many options. And all econ dev falls under the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.
A lot of moving pieces
Let’s start with Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) or RVO, based in the capital city of Den Haag.
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency supports entrepreneurs and organizations that are becoming more sustainable, innovating or internationalizing. Dispatches works with RVO startups that are expanding into new markets either to raise capital or to find new partners and customers.
This is a huge organization (see details below), overseeing billions in project funding from the Dutch government and the European Union. In turn, between 2021 and 2024, deep tech startups received a total of 956 million euros in funding via the RVO. RVO provides subsidies and credits and helps entrepreneurs apply for European funding.
Energy transition and deep tech are the two major investment categories, and RVO gets tens of thousands of applications every year.
We interviewed Linda Reijers, Program Manager all public/private initiatives, recently at RVO offices in Utrecht to get the basics.
Linda’s main responsibilities include:
• Contributing expertise in agricultural knowledge and innovation to support Dutch businesses in navigating international landscapes
• Focusing on international business and public-private partnerships, facilitating collaboration between Dutch organizations and international markets
• Enhancing the competitiveness of Dutch companies abroad, particularly targeting initiatives in the U.S.
The qualifications for potential investment are pretty straight forward, Linda said. For starters, your startup or small business must be registered with the KvK, the Dutch chamber of commerce, before applying for funding or RVO programs. But registration isn’t enough. “You have to prove you have people working in the Netherlands … and R&D is here and can grow here.”
Yes, the main idea is to boost Dutch businesses and help them become internationally competitive. But retention in the Netherlands is crucial, she says. RVO isn’t interested in supporting “post office” companies, that only have a P.O. box here.
“You need a substantial presence in the Netherlands where you actually make products,” Linda says.
The minimal requirements are:
• You produce something in the Netherlands.
• You have a production facility in the Netherlands.
• You employ people in the Netherlands.
The ideal scenario is that you have a company RVO adjudges as having potential, then helps you go international. That would result in more export orders for your company and feed a virtuous cycle of funding, expansion and job growth. You will employ more people in the Netherlands, will develop more R&D or will expand your innovation department, for example, in the Netherlands.
“Then you would have really substantial activity,” Linda says.
In addition to funding, RVO organizes or supports trade missions and other international efforts.
About RVO
RVO is based in Den Haag, with regional offices in Utrecht, Assen, Groningen, Roermond, Utrecht and Zwolle. RVO oversees more than1 billion euros in funding and more than 6,000 employes. It works with 24,000 entrepreneurs each year.
The largest part of RVO funding (594 million euros) comes from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program. Another 18 million comes from the EIC Transition program. RVO is the national contact point for these European subsidy initiatives, which are part of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program. This program aims to increase Europe’s competitiveness by stimulating science and innovation.
The rest comes from initiatives such as the Innovation Credit (175 million), Seed Capital (80 million), Eurostars (65 million) and Thematic Technology Transfer (TTT, 24 million). These schemes offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to further develop their innovations.
There are multiple ways RVO boosts startups from direct investment to tax deductions. Be sure to read the RVO website carefully to understand program eligibility requirements and find the program that’s right for you. Here’s the page for the subsidy and financing guide. Here’s the link to the events and trade missions.
Co-CEO of Dispatches Europe. A former military reporter, I'm a serial expat who has lived in France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
