Invest-NL wants to make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative

The central government has established the investment fund Invest-NL. The aim of the fund is to finance companies that make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative. A share capital of 1.7 billion euros is available for this purpose.

The focus of Invest-NL According to the national government, this should be based on the energy transition. This will make money available for electrification and energy, circularity, agrifood and the built environment. The fund says that it deliberately wants to take risks: “the aim is to expand the market and make financeable what seems impossible to finance”.

Invest-NL also says it uses long terms and says it is able to invest large amounts. It is stated that 'without impact no financing' is possible.

According to the national government, Invest-NL is necessary because market parties in the Netherlands have difficulty financing major social transitions, especially in the areas of policy and technology, a large number of stakeholders and the fragmentation of initiatives with relatively high learning and transaction costs. Invest-NL also says that there is relatively less risk capital available in the Netherlands for young, fast-growing companies compared to, for example, Germany, the United Kingdom or the US.

Wouter Bos has to take the lead for Invest-NL. Bos: “As Invest-NL we have strong ambitions: we want to quadruple the amount of risk capital for the energy transition in five years. Young innovative companies must be able to grow successfully just as often as in Germany and England. This means that we have to do twice as well as we are now.”

On the Invest-NL website (invest-nl.nl), entrepreneurs and financiers can answer five questions to determine whether their business plan is eligible for financing from Invest-NL.