The Dutch caretaker cabinet will invest nearly 430 million euros in the country’s tech sector, according to budget documents seen by NOS. The funding, considered strategically important by the government, aims to reinforce the Netherlands’ strong position in high-tech industries amid growing geopolitical and economic competition.
A little over half – 230 million euros — will be allocated to the semiconductor industry via the European IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) fund. Another 200 million will go toward helping young tech companies scale up. These funds will be channeled through the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI), a vehicle aimed at addressing Europe’s chronic underinvestment in scale-ups compared to the United States.
The funding comes from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ budget and draws significantly on unspent resources from the National Growth Fund. Launched in 2020 with 20 billion euros, the fund is intended to support sustainable and innovation-driven investments by Dutch companies.
