Fewer Dutch start-ups launched in 2025 but strong focus on AI

The number of new start-ups in the Netherlands fell for the second year in a row in 2025, and a relatively large share focused on AI, a new report on the state of the Dutch tech sector shows.

While the Netherlands has everything in-house to compete globally, there is too much focus on the rapid growth of digital services and not enough on capital-intensive and strategic technology, the report’s authors say.

The annual State of Dutch Tech report, compiled by lobby group Techleap, says Dutch artificial intelligence companies are growing more slowly than rivals in Germany and France. Most Dutch AI specialists opt for secure jobs at large firms rather than start-ups.

The Netherlands risks falling behind in the development and scaling up of AI companies, Techleap says. While €2.6 billion was invested in Dutch tech firms last year, an increase of 11%, the growth rate of AI businesses lags behind that of neighbouring countries.

Access to funding is the main bottleneck, the report says. AI companies received 27% of all venture capital invested in the Netherlands last year, below the European average of 32%. Around three-quarters of that AI funding came from abroad, primarily from the United States.

The number of new start-ups, defined as companies raising more than €100,000, fell again last year, and 117 new firms were established.

“With 11,301 verified companies and €2.64 billion in venture capital deployed in 2025, the Netherlands has built one of Europe’s more concentrated ecosystems, the report says.

“However, two patterns point to structural challenges: new startup formation has declined since its 2023 peak, and the ecosystem’s 21.6% scale-up ratio trails both the European average of 24.1% and the United States, where more than half of funded startups reach scale-up status.”

New measures

The new government agreement contains a number of measures ministers hope will boost the domestic tech sector, including a multi-billion-euro national investment fund.

There are also EU plans to make it easier for companies to set up a “European Incorporated Company” and operate across multiple member states.

Tech sector special envoy prince Constantijn told the Financieele Dagblad he welcomed the increased sense of urgency and momentum. “But many things should have been done earlier,” he said. “The ruling on share participations will be here in 2027 and that is 10 years too late.”