4 Important Subsidy Themes for Companies in the Netherlands

Governments want to make an impact. They focus on themes that contribute to specific policy goals such as economic growth, sustainability, social impact or innovation. Read about the 4 main themes that governments like to subsidize Dutch businesses for.

1. Innovation and R&D

Why relevant?
Innovation (new products, processes, technologies) is the engine for economic growth, but funding innovation is hard. Risks are high, technology is unproven, and there is no “track record”. There are numerous innovation subsidies to lower the threshold.

Governments are focusing on this theme to:

• strengthen the national knowledge economy
• to gain a technological advantage

Important innovation subsidies

• The WBSO is the best-known innovation subsidy in the Netherlands. With the WBSO, you receive a tax deduction that allows you to partially offset staff and development costs.
• The innovation box reduces corporate tax on profits resulting from developed IP/patents. The innovation box is often requested after the WBSO to reduce the tax burden for revenue from new products or technologies.
• The MIT subsidy is for SMEs that develop innovative products, processes or services within national sector themes such as digitization, AI, or better healthcare. The MIT has various grants for feasibility studies or development.
  
  

Example
A medtech startup is developing a new diagnostic device. They receive MIT to do a feasibility study to test their most important assumptions such as the biggest technical risks and market potential. Based on the results, they then apply for WBSO to reduce the costs for the development phase.

2. Sustainability

Why relevant?
The transition to a circular and climate-neutral economy is a high priority in the Netherlands and Europe. Companies that make energy-efficient purchases, use circular materials, or develop circular business models can often count on government support. Governments see this as a lever for sustainable impact.

Important sustainability subsidies

• The Energy Investment Allowance (EIA) is a tax scheme where entrepreneurs can deduct part of their energy efficient investments from profits such as LED lighting, heat pumps or insulation systems for a new building. The EIA immediately reduces the tax burden from sustainable investments.
• The Energy and Climate Innovation Demonstration (DEI+) is a subsidy for companies that want to demonstrate a new energy or climate innovation. Companies can be reimbursed up to 50% of the project costs.
• The Sustainable Energy and Energy Saving Investment Grant (ISDE subsidy) is also available for companies. With the ISDE, entrepreneurs can receive subsidies to purchase sustainable installations, such as heat pumps, solar boilers, wind turbines and solar panels. The scheme is interesting for companies that want to reduce their energy consumption or want to generate energy themselves, for example when making an office or production hall more sustainable.
• The Circular Chain Projects (CKP) grant is an RVO scheme that supports SMEs in developing circular chains. Entrepreneurs work together to use raw materials more efficiently, reduce waste or reuse products. The subsidy reimburses part of the costs for knowledge institutions, project management and external experts.

Example
A manufacturer of building materials wants to set up a process to reuse waste concrete. He is asking for a subsidy for the demonstration phase with a pilot installation (via DEI+), and combines that with EIA on the energy-efficient equipment used.

3. Export and Internationalization

Why relevant?
Expansion into foreign markets increases growth opportunities, scale and knowledge exchange. Governments subsidize internationalization to strengthen the country's export position, attract foreign investment, and promote trade balances.

Typical export subsidies

• RVO's DHI grant supports companies with international growth plans. You can receive a subsidy for a demonstration project, feasibility study or investment preparation project abroad. The scheme reimburses a maximum of €200,000 and is suitable for, among other things, demonstrating effectiveness with customers, market research and preparing investments with experts.
• The Support International Business (SIB) scheme helps beginning and growing exporters to increase opportunities in a specific country. The grant covers activities such as coaching by a market expert, participation in trade fairs and export training
• Innowwide is a fixed grant of €60,000 that allows innovative SMEs to carry out market and feasibility analyses in potential export markets. The goal is to test whether your technology is promising in the export market.
  
  

Example
A Dutch manufacturer of sustainable cleaning products wants to expand to Germany. Through the SIB scheme, the company hires an export coach to analyze the market and establish contacts with distributors. It then applies for a DHI grant to finance a pilot project with a major German customer. This way, they can demonstrate their product locally, limit market risks and gain a foothold more quickly.

4. Personnel training

Why relevant?
The labor market is changing rapidly. Companies that actively retrain their employees increase their competitiveness and remain attractive as employers. Governments stimulate this with various regulations that support learning and development processes.

Typical subsidies/instruments

• The SLIM scheme has been specially developed to promote learning and development in small and medium-sized enterprises. The subsidy reimburses up to 80% of the costs for activities such as drawing up a training or development plan for your organization, or organizing practical apprenticeships.
• In addition, companies in sectors with practical occupations can make use of the Practical Learning Subsidy Scheme. This scheme compensates wage costs for employees or students who follow an apprenticeship process (such as BBL courses).
  
  

Example
A consulting firm wants to train its employees to use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to accelerate processes and improve customer presentations. With the SLIM scheme, they finance a training plan in which employees learn how AI can support their daily work through workshops and practical assignments.

Explore your subsidy options

Whether you're innovating, becoming more sustainable, wanting to grow internationally, or investing in education, almost every company can benefit from subsidies. The range is large, but often difficult to oversee. That is precisely why many entrepreneurs miss out on funding.

With a subsidy scan, you can discover in a few minutes which regulations are really relevant to your company. From feasibility studies to training projects, from national to regional opportunities, you can immediately see what you are entitled to and what next steps are.

Do a free AI grant scan and find out which subsidies can accelerate your plans.