Pre-investment Support

Pre-investment Support

Supports Dutch firms preparing foreign investments through small grants covering pre-investment analysis and planning.

Pre-investment Support is a grant product within the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) ecosystem, administered by Invest International on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It provides small grants to Dutch SMEs and start-ups to cover preparatory activities required before committing to a foreign direct investment in any of the 71 DGGF-eligible developing and emerging-market countries. The fund targets companies whose products or technologies sit at Technology Readiness Level 7–9 — proven enough to deploy commercially but requiring preparation work before the investment decision can be made. Eligible preparatory activities typically include market assessments, partnership scouting, regulatory scoping, and initial business-development costs in the target country.

To qualify, an applicant must be at least 51% Dutch-owned, have a viable business plan with demonstrable SDG impact (SDG 8 — decent work and economic growth — and SDG 13 — climate action — are explicitly prioritised), and secure a co-investor commitment. A minimum 20% own contribution from the applicant is required; the grant covers the remaining portion of eligible preparation costs. Specific grant amounts are not published on a standard schedule and are determined case-by-case through Invest International's funding advisor process. The 71 target countries span Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe and are catalogued in the DGGF country list maintained by Invest International.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with no fixed deadline. The standard entry route is through the Invest International funding advisor tool on the investinternational.nl website, where a quick-scan intake determines eligibility before a full application is requested. Companies that have already identified a specific investment opportunity in a DGGF country and have a co-investor lined up are best placed to succeed. Contact Invest International at info@investinternational.nl or +31 70 701 3251.