Invest-NL Direct Financing

Invest-NL Direct Financing

Funds Dutch scale-ups with equity, mezzanine, and venture debt when conventional markets are constrained.

Invest-NL Direct Financing is the flagship balance-sheet investment program of Invest-NL, the Dutch national promotional investment institution established by the Dutch government. The program provides equity participations, senior and mezzanine loans, venture debt, and blended equity-debt structures to innovative Dutch companies that cannot access conventional market financing. Standard ticket sizes range from €5 million to €50 million per transaction; smaller tickets of €1 million to €5 million are handled preferably as co-investments with Regional Development Agencies (ROMs). Invest-NL may take up to 50 percent of the risk capital in any given round.

Eligibility requires that applicants are for-profit companies registered or operating in the Netherlands with substantial Dutch economic impact. The program targets five strategic themes: Agrifood, Biobased and Circular Economy, Deep Tech, Energy (including energy transition), and Life Sciences and Health. To qualify, a company must demonstrate a genuine financing gap — meaning that commercial banks or private investors are unwilling to provide the required capital at acceptable terms — and that its activities produce measurable positive impact aligned with CO2 neutrality, circular economy, sustainable food systems, healthcare improvement, or deep-tech advancement. The management team must also show complementary skills, sector experience, and willingness to share risk. Seed-phase companies, acquisition financing, real estate projects, and grant-seeking entities are explicitly excluded from this program.

Prospective applicants begin by completing NAFIN's Financing Check questionnaire available on the Invest-NL portal, followed by submission of a business plan prepared using the provided template. The investment process includes initial screening, detailed review, and due diligence before an investment committee decision. Invest-NL does not offer grants and all instruments carry market-related return expectations, making the program most appropriate for scale-up companies with proven technology that need growth capital to commercialize impact-driven solutions.