Dutch government opens €1.7B fund for energy transition and to fund scale-ups

Recently, the official launch of Invest-NL took place in Amsterdam in the presence of Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Eric Wiebes. Notably, the Invest-NL will fund companies that deal with sustainability and innovation in the Netherlands.

With €1.7 billion, this private company intends to focus mainly on electrification & energy, circularity, agrifood, and more. Regarding innovative scaleups, the focus will primarily be on industrial technologies.

If you are not aware, Invest-NL will actively participate in the commercial market as an impact investor, aiming to make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative. Invest-NL currently has 40 employees.

The company aims to expand the market and provide financial backing for what once seemed unbackable. Alongside a willingness to take significant risks, Invest-NL is also prepared to invest large amounts with extended maturities.

So far, the market parties in the Netherlands have difficulty financing major societal transitions due to their challenges: a high degree of uncertainty regarding policy and technology, the diversity of stakeholders, and the fragmentation of initiatives with relatively high learning and transaction costs.

In line with parliamentary decisions and based on research, Invest-NL has decided to prioritise the financing of scale-ups and the energy transition. Entrepreneurs and financiers can visit the Invest-NL website (invest-nl.nl) to answer five questions and discover if their business plan may be eligible for financing by Invest-NL.

Wouter Bos, CEO of Invest-NL:

We have far-reaching ambitions at Invest-NL: our aim is to quadruple the amount of risk capital available for the energy transition within five years. We want to ensure that young, innovative companies here can scale up as successfully as they do in Germany and the UK, which means the Netherlands needs to become twice as effective in this regard as it is today.

Eric Wiebes, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy:

With Invest-NL, we show that the great changes around energy and climate can go hand in hand with making a profit. Invest-NL’s financing and development power get companies going and contributes to employment and economic growth in the Netherlands.

Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Finance:

I am very proud of what we are achieving here. It is not common for a government to set up state participation.

And its objective is important: Invest-NL’s activities strengthen our innovative economy and contribute to the transition towards a sustainable society.