Amsterdam has a long history of commercialisation and the trading gene is still rooted in citizens. Right now, there is a pro-business climate and entrepreneurship in the city. Undoubtedly, it is home to tech unicorns such as Booking.com, WeTransfer, etc. that are known globally.
Wondering what makes Amsterdam so irresistible for businesses? Well, 90% of the population in the city speak English fluently and it is quite affordable for expats as compared to many other cities in Europe. Besides this, the impact of Brexit that marks Britain’s departure from the European Union is contributing to the success of Amsterdam in the business sector, especially the financial sector.
Adding to these, the Dutch government is also taking steps that will welcome new companies. The government has eased the tax regulations for international businesses and introduced special visas for entrepreneurs from other countries. In addition to helping foreign companies, Amsterdam is also home to a slew of multinationals and here is a list of such companies as sourced from Dealroom.
Booking.com
Founder: Geert-Jan Bruinsma
Founded year: 1996
Booking.com is a booking site owned by Booking Holdings. It is one of the leading global e-commerce companies, which lets users book any type of accommodation. Booking.com operates with the one-stop solution to encourage people across the world to use it as a prime destination to book accommodation. It is available in 43 languages and provides over 28 million accommodation listings.
TomTom
Founders: Corinne Vigreux, Peter Frans Pauwels
Founded year: 1991
TomTom has grown into a leading global brand after its IPO back in 2005. Now, TomTom is synonymous with navigation cabinets in the car and it predominantly focuses on card and software development. It is one of the most extensive digital map databases and processes billions of data points on an everyday basis to maintain and scale numerous products and services.
ASML
CEO: Peter Wennink
Founded year: 1984
ASML is known as the world’s largest supplier of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry (machines to make chips). The company makes machines for high-tech lithography, metrology and software solutions for the semiconductor industry, which are very important parts of smartphones, tablet, and other gadgets. ASML has now become a multinational company with offices in 60 cities in 16 countries.
Philips
Founders: Gerard Philips, Frederik Philips
Founded year: 1891
Philips has transformed into a leading global health tech giant after many spin-offs. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has launched several products in the field of diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care.
ING Group
Founded year: 1991
ING Group (Internationale Nederlanden Groep) is a multinational banking and financial services corporation that is headquartered in Amsterdam. It was formed as a merger of insurer Nationale Nederlanden and state-owned NMB Postbank. The primary businesses of ING Group include direct banking, retail banking, investment banking, commercial banking, insurance, and asset management.
Rabobank
Founded year: 1972
Rabobank based in Utrecht is a multinational banking and financial services company that specialises in food and agriculture financing and sustainability-centered banking services. Eventually, it was labelled as farmer’s bank. Rabobank comprises 129 independent local branches. In terms of assets, this group carries the credits of being the second-largest bank in the Netherlands.
Delta Lloyd
Founder: Laurens van Graafeiland
Founded year: 1807
Delta Lloyd was formed as a life insurance company in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The company is the sixth-largest insurer in the Dutch market. Delta Lloyd also offers limited banking products, such as savings accounts and mortgages. The company helps clients by providing new reports, interviews, and others and analyses important developments.
KPMG
Founded year: 1987
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. As of now, the company has over 200,000 outstanding professionals working together to deliver value in 153 countries. KPMG firms’ professionals develop a rich understanding of clients’ businesses and the insight, skills and resources required to address industry-specific issues and opportunities.
Stock photo from Noppasin Wongchum/Shutterstock
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