Amsterdam-based Innovation Fund Noord-Holland (INH), an initiative that provides loans to ‘innovative’ startups and SMEs in the Noord-Holland region, announced on Monday, January 23, the launch of a new €10M fund available for startups as of January 1, 2023.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Province of North Holland contribute money to the fund. Innovative startups and SMEs who qualify for Early Phase finance can now go to their own region, thanks to this new fund.
“Convertible loans for startups and SMEs in North Holland”
Innovation Fund Noord-Holland (INH) is an initiative of the Province of Noord-Holland, the University of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Sanquin, and the Free University, with support from the EU through the European Regional Development Fund. INH has also received support from the REACT EU fund.
INH provides loans from this fund to companies that need financing to prove new ideas and concepts, the so-called ‘Proof-of-Concept’ phase.
About the New Early Phase fund
The new fund was created to guarantee that innovative businesses in North Holland, who qualify for Early Phase Financing (VFF), can get support for more ideas and concepts.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), which has been implementing the VFF scheme since 2014, now have almost national coverage for regional exports of the VFF scheme.
Wouter Keij, fund manager of INH, sees the new early phase fund as an important collaboration at regional level with RVO. In a statement translated from Dutch, Keij says, “INH knows the entrepreneurs in North Holland and can respond to the concrete needs of regional entrepreneurs. INH has a strong network of follow-up financiers. That is important because the early phase financing must attract follow-up financiers.”
Ilse Zaal, deputy of the province of North Holland for Economy, says, “The Noord-Holland Innovation Fund is a central player in our regional financing landscape and supports many entrepreneurs and projects. The cooperation with the national government, RVO, the Innovation Fund and the co-shareholders has led to the VFF scheme being brought closer to the entrepreneur.”
The new fund offers convertible loans ranging from €50,000 to €350K to SMEs that have a registered office in North Holland. The resources are only meant for business owners who are neither academic freshmen or employees of one of INH’s shareholder knowledge institutions (UvA, HvA, AUMC, VU, and Sanquin). The Proof-of-Concept fund at INH is available to these new academics. Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 5 must be met by the project.
According to a statement, loans of up to €350K will be extended by the fund for financial support between 2023 and 2025. Between 2018 and 2022, the fund had provided loans to 44 companies.
An application for funding can be made here.
