The Dutch tech ecosystem is showing strong growth, with 11,301 active tech companies and €2.64 billion in venture capital by 2025. Yet the Netherlands is not sufficiently successful in converting this growth into international scale-up.
This is according to Techleap's State of Dutch Tech 2026 report, presented during the revamped State of Dutch Tech event. Techleap, together with TNO and Invest-NL, calls for joint work on concrete solutions.
"In short, 6 years of State of Dutch Tech shows a picture of stagnation and limited growth, which we cannot afford now," says Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy at Techleap. "Over the past six years, we have shown progress in this report, but also see that structural bottlenecks remain. The development of AI and the geopolitical situation is changing everything. We cannot continue to dabble as before. The whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors, business, universities and government must work together to come up with concrete solutions. Everyone can play a role in this."
Scaleup ratio below European average
The Dutch scaleup ratio, the percentage of startups raising more than €10 million in investments, will be 21.6% in 2025. This is up from 2019 (13%), but lower than the European average of 24.1%. By comparison, in the United States, 52.2% of startups reach this status, which is more than double that of the Netherlands.
"In the Netherlands, we are world champions in knowledge, we have gold in our hands with smart collaborations. But to really cash in on our lead, we have to move on now: only when lab-scale breakthroughs grow into large-scale applications and we let these innovations grow into real unicorns, will we create the impact and the economic flywheel that the Netherlands needs," explains Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi, CEO of TNO.
Spin-offs are growing
Since 2022, 405 new spin-offs have been created from Dutch universities and knowledge institutions, an increase of 1.6× compared to 2012-2015. Yet the Netherlands has only one university in the European top 20. This leaves the Netherlands below the European average.
Dutch tech companies attracted 11.5% more investments than in 2024. At the same time, the number of deals fell by 14.5%. Capital is increasingly flowing into larger, later and therefore safer investment rounds. Early-stage startups have more difficult access to funding as a result.
Increasingly dependent on foreign capital
In large investment rounds of €50 to €100 million, US investors' participation in Dutch companies tripled from 14% to 40%. In contrast, European involvement fell from 55% to 21%. The figures show that Dutch companies are increasingly dependent on foreign capital for scale-up.
"It is positive that more capital is going to Dutch tech, but it is stepping in increasingly later. For technologies with long development times and high capital needs, there is still too little suitable funding in the follow-on. Without patient capital, the development of strategically important technologies for the Netherlands stagnates," argues Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest-NL.
Highest AI talent density in Europe
At 10.9 AI professionals per 10,000 inhabitants, the Netherlands has the highest AI talent density in Europe. Yet Dutch AI startups convert only 21.2% to scaleup status, below the European average (31.1%) and well below the US rate (80.9%).
AI attracts 27% of Dutch venture capital, with 75% of investments in 2025 coming from abroad. According to Techleap, TNO and Invest-NL, this demonstrates both the international appeal and the opportunity for more domestic capital.
Deeptech makes up 12% of the ecosystem, but provides 41% of all scaleups, with a scaleup ratio of 39% - more than twice as high as non-deeptech (17%). The sector attracted 41% of all venture capital by 2025, well above the European average.
Above-average retention of international talent
The Netherlands retains 53.4% of international graduates, almost double the EU average (15-30%). The ecosystem has about 135,000 workers in the Netherlands and more than 213,000 worldwide. According to the Wennink report, the Netherlands needs 300,000 extra technicians and IT specialists by 2030.
The figures also show that female-led startups have grown by 22% year-on-year. However, they still account for only 8% of all Dutch startups. The UK (13%) and Germany (11%) both score significantly higher in this respect. All-male teams are twice as likely as mixed or female teams to receive funding in Series A and further investment rounds.
The State of Dutch Tech 2026 report is available here.
