Strong growth in investments in start-ups and scale-ups from Brainport Eindhoven region

Investments in start-ups and scale-ups from the Brainport Eindhoven region increased significantly in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 and 2017. According to research by Stef Meijers, start-up officer of the municipality of Eindhoven, 59 million euros have already been invested in local start-ups and scale-ups this year. The biggest hits were for Additive Industries (€10 million), Withlocals (€8 million), Onera Health (€8.3 million) and CytoSMART (€5.2 million).

The growth compared to last year is 20%. Compared to 2017, it is even 210%.

According to Meijers, the money is roughly divided over three ‘main groups’: Software (18%), MedTech/HealthTech (19%) and High Tech/Deep Tech (63%). “This confirms that High Tech/Deep Tech is strongly represented in Brainport Eindhoven.”

Meijers sees local as well as global causes for the growth. “What you see is that the start-up economy is growing worldwide. However, some sectors are growing faster than others. Deep Tech, for example, is on the rise. These are start-ups that are built on substantial scientific progress and technical innovation, such as in the field of Robotics or AI. The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2019, published in May, underpins this with global investment figures.

Deep Tech and High Tech are strongly represented in the Brainport Eindhoven region. “With this global trend in mind, it is not surprising that the total volume of investments in start-ups located here is increasing. Moreover, you can see that the time has come for a relatively large number of start-ups to grow into scale-ups. This requires larger investments to finance it.”

Lively start-up scene

According to Meijers, these growth figures underline the fact that Brainport Eindhoven has a lively start-up scene. “And that the start-up ecosystem is still growing. This is important because start-ups and scale-ups play an increasingly important role in creating new jobs and future prosperity.”

Meijers emphasises that this does not only benefit the start-ups themselves. “A large part of the start-up investments flows directly and indirectly back into the region. For example, start-ups are able to hire more staff and purchase products and services from other high-tech companies in the region. Thanks to this ‘trickle down effect’, the whole of Brainport Eindhoven benefits from this.”