Although the Netherlands failed to qualify for the football World Cup this year, the Dutch are gradually becoming one of the finest tech players in Europe’s technology industry.
According to the leading VC database, Dealroom, the windmill country has some of the biggest names in its kitty when it comes to the major market valuation. Here at Silicon Canals today, we take a look at the 5 biggest tech giants from the Netherlands, based on the latest report by Dealroom.
#1 Adyen (€12 billion)
The Amsterdam-based and Silicon Valley-backed digital payments company, Adyen went public recently and with its market valuation of €12 billion ($14 billion), the FinTech scaleup became the 14th most valuable tech company in Europe, in between United Internet and Wirecard.
Established in 2006 by Dutch entrepreneurs Pieter van der Does and Arnout Schuijff, the Netherland’s pride Adyen is an online payment platform that enables businesses to organize and process their payments from customers via different channels. Adyen’s client list includes some big names like Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, Uber and more.
To put Adyen’s meteoric rise in perspective, it’s the third most valuable European venture-backed company ever. Adyen is also the fifth VC backed company to break the $10 billion valuation mark ever (after Zalando, Supercell, IHS Markit, and Spotify).
#2 Booking Holdings (€85 billion)
As per Dealroom, Europe’s second most valuable tech company is Booking Holdings, with a €85 billion valuation. It’s domiciled in the US but ~90% of its market cap is based on Dutch company Booking.com (which it acquired in 2005 for $135 million). Booking.com is today still based in Amsterdam.
Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline.com) claims to be the world’s leading provider of online travel and has bought growth in the past by purchasing famous travel technology brands. Booking.com, Kayak, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable are its noteworthy acquisitions. Recently, the company also acquired FareHarbor, a Hawaii headquartered, U.S-based local activities and experiences booking software provider.
#3 ASML (€73 billion)
Based out of Veldhoven near Eindhoven, ASML is known as the world’s largest supplier of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry (machines to make chips). It ranks third with a valuation of €73 billion. 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. The company employs more than 19,000 people on payroll and flexible contracts. Reportedly, ASML is traded on Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ under the symbol ASML.
#4 Philips (€37 billion)
After several spin-offs, Philips has transformed into a global health tech giant. The company ranks fourth in European tech with a valuation of €37 billion.
With the changing times, now the Dutch company focuses on people’s health, living, and the environment by making new advancements in the world of IoT, AR and VR. Headquartered in the Netherlands, 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. Reportedly, Philips generated 2017 sales of €17.8 billion and employs approximately 74,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries.
#5 NXP Semiconductors (€40 billion)
This Dutch global semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands has a market valuation of €40 billion. Formerly Philips Semiconductors, the company was sold to KKR, Bain, Silver Lake, and Apax in 2006, at which point the company’s name was changed to NXP. In 2010 the company went public and in 2016 Qualcomm made a bid to acquire NXP for about €43 billion, however, the acquisition is still awaited.
NXP has over 30,000 employees in more than 30 countries and has reportedly posted revenue of $9.26 billion in 2017.
With Booking, ASML, NXP, Philips, and Adyen, The Netherland stands tall for having 5 major tech giants out of the first 15 of Europe’s most valuable companies.
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