Dutch start-ups have raised at least €420 million in venture capital in the third quarter of 2023. Although this represents a slight decline from the second quarter (€525 million) and the third quarter in 2022 (€435 million), it follows a usual seasonal pattern. The composition of deals by phase is similar to last year, the Quarterly Startup Report states.
The report is a quarterly data analysis by Dealroom.co, Golden Egg Check, KPMG, the Regional Development Companies (ROMs), the Dutch Association of Venture Capital Companies (NVP), Dutch Startup Association (DSA), and Techleap.
Bright spots and challenges
The number of deals identified by analysts of the Quarterly Startup Report also decreased. Last quarter, 85 deals came to fruition, down from 98 in the third quarter of last year and over 100 in previous quarters. Although fewer investments are typically made and announced during the summer season, the sharp decline is a concern, researchers say.
Against the trend, there were slightly more large deals to note in the past quarter. Some 15% of investments were larger than €15 million, compared with 8-10% in the year’s first quarters. According to the report’s authors, this seems to be a cautious sign of recovery that venture capitalists are again investing more frequently in later-stage companies with more significant amounts. At the same time, the share of smaller deals (€1-4 million) fell to 34% from 40% in the first quarter.
€1.4 billion invested by 2023
In total, nearly €1.4 billion has been invested in 2023. This is expected to bring the capital invested at the end of 2023 just slightly above 2020. Whereas there was a lot of focus in the past quarters on cleantech and healthcare, there have now been larger rounds of funding in various sectors. This can be seen as a sign that the market is stabilizing.
Dealroom also speaks of a record €1.3 billion in new capital raised from investors by Dutch venture capital funds that will be deployed over the next 3-5 years. The outlier in this is the new Amsterdam-based NATO Innovation Fund, which aims to invest in security-related startups and scaleups with fund assets of €1 billion. With €400 million in other new VC funds, Dutch VCs had a relatively good quarter.
Biggest deals in Q3
Neobank bunq raised the most significant investment last quarter, totaling more than €44 million. The top 11 biggest deals are a mix of software companies such as Lepaya and Framer, and relatively many high-tech companies (including SMART Photonics, Rocsys and VSParticle) and climate technology companies (including Meatable and HyET Solar).
Here is the complete top 11:
- bunq €44,500,000
- SMART Photonics €40,000,000
- Lepaya $38,000,000
- MYCB1 Group $45,000,000
- Rocsys $36,000,000
- Meatable $35,000,000
- Framer $27,000,000
- Sensorfact €25,000,000
- Nearfield €16,000,000
- HyET Solar €14,500,000
- VSParticle €14,500,000
“The fact that more larger-funding rounds are taking place in a broader segment could mean that we can start looking cautiously positive ahead,” said Lucien Burm, president of the Dutch Startup Association. “It may be related to the start-ups that raised much money during Corona and are also successful now. We are therefore watching the next quarter with great interest to see if this trend continues. The fact that many funds have been raised in 2023 contributes to those positive expectations.”
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