With the creation of DeepTechXL Fund I, the Dutch province of Brabant gets a unique fund which  will invest in promising Dutch deep-tech startups and scale-ups. Strategic investors and co initiators of the fund include ASML, Philips, Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM) and research institute TNO. PME Pension Fund and Invest-NL will also invest in the fund.  DeepTechXL Fund I aims for a minimum fund size of €100 million. The fund also received a €9  million loan from the Dutch government institute RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend  Nederland), specifically allocated for early-stage seed investments, says BOM in a press release.

“Deep-tech” is a category of advanced enabling technologies developed at research facilities to address  the grand societal challenges as defined by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of  healthcare, energy transition and sustainability, security and food. Deep-tech innovation enables long term sustainable economic success and creates high value-add employment in the advanced high-tech  manufacturing industry. 

Necessity

The Brainport region is the tech hotspot of the Netherlands and north-west Europe. Yet, many deep tech startups spend on average more than 50% of their time raising early-stage funding, since many  existing investors lack the specific knowledge to judge the technology potential for future business  impact. As a result, each year dozens of promising deep-tech propositions remain unexplored in the  Netherlands.

Investing partners

The fund team of experienced venture capital entrepreneurs engages in an unique strategic  collaboration with leading tech corporates from the industry, regional and national investors and Dutch  research institutes, aiming to offer promising deep-tech ventures access to the combined financial innovation ecosystem to stimulate innovation, accelerate growth and make positive impact.  

The fund received investments from ASML, PME Pension Fund, Invest-NL, Philips, BOM and TNO. The  investments of ASML, Philips and PME Pension Fund are an important signal of the Dutch sector partners and their strong commitments to provide considerable contributions to further strengthening  the Dutch deep-tech manufactoring industry. Invest-NL, BOM and TNO already belong to the most  active players in deep-tech innovation in the Netherlands. In addition to the industry sector and impact  investors, Dutch family offices and the fundmanager itself are also participating in the fund. 

Specifically for seed investments, DeepTechXL received a €9 million loan from the 2021 RVO tender  “Seed Capital Deep Tech” of €21 million in total. 

DeepTechXL Fund I expects to make approximately 20 early-stage seed investments and 15 follow-on  investments to finance growth. As such, the fund aims to provide funding and support throughout the  lifecycle of promising deep-tech ventures.

Support 

Due to the intrinsic complex nature of deep-tech venture-building, access to finance alone is not  enough. Therefore, DeepTechXL aims to be much more than just an investment vehicle. Together with  the investing industry partners, the fund provides deep-tech startups and scale-ups access to  knowledge, network, technology, licenses and business development support. The fund aims to  introduce launching customers, find partners in the supply chain, assist in the entry of new markets  and scaling up in manufacturing. DeepTechXL originates from and will closely work together with  HighTechXL, the prestigious deep-tech venture-builder also supported by ASML, Philips, TNO and  BOM.

 

Selected for you!

Innovation Origins is the European platform for innovation news. In addition to the many reports from our own editors in 15 European countries, we select the most important press releases from reliable sources. This way you can stay up to date on what is happening in the world of innovation. Are you or do you know an organization that should not be missing from our list of selected sources? Then report to our editorial team.

CurrencyAmount