Tech giants Philips and ASML, together with a number of other partners, will invest 100 million euros in a technology fund for the Brainport region. That money is intended to help new companies with groundbreaking inventions. This is urgently needed because many of these startups find it difficult to grow on their own. How and when will Eindhoven and surroundings benefit from this pot of money?
Converting knowledge into capital is not given to everyone. Youthful elan with a fine piece of technology is not always a winning combination. Making a revolutionary invention is one step. Translating it into a commercial product that generates jobs and brings in money is the next step, which is often much more difficult because it costs a lot of money.
Bakery on the corner
They know that all too well at ASML. As a startup founded in 1984, the company ran into difficult financial weather a few times in the beginning. Almost forty years later it is clear which dream could have been shattered.
In 2022, companies in the Brainport region and far beyond are thriving as a supplier to ASML, now the most important high-tech company in the Netherlands. This ranges from the bakery on the corner to the industrial family business VDL Groep with 15,000 employees.
Operation Centurion
Every job in industry creates 1.2 extra jobs in the service sector and every researcher in Brainport provides a multitude of jobs in the chain. The high-tech in Southeast Brabant is therefore a huge job engine. And who earns, can also spend it.
They do not want to relive the times when truck manufacturer DAF went bankrupt (1993) and Philips under the leadership of Jan Timmer made a clear cut to survive (Operation Centurion 1990-1996: 50,000 layoffs). With a view to the future, it is necessary for Brainport to tap into new technologies and new industry.
Building factory halls
Paul van Nuenen, director of Brainport, is convinced that the 100 million fund will yield results for Eindhoven and the surrounding 20 municipalities that together form the high-tech region.
“Although that won’t be in two to three years. These are start-ups that will scale up further after the first phase. They then move from prototypes to the production of ready-to-use items. We don’t just want the knowledge, we also want to make it. That means building factory lines and halls. This requires large and long-term investments. Then in eight to ten years’ time we will have companies that will provide new employment at all levels.”
700 startups
There is certainly no shortage of young companies with new technology. Brainport is home to numerous campuses, innovation hubs, research centers and knowledge institutions with more than 700 start-ups and more than 16,000 employees.
One of them is Innoflex at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. This startup has been in existence for two years now and does listen to the technology fund. “Investors are scarce in the Netherlands,” says founder Kevin Lagarde. Five years ago, he devised a technology to purify air with a flexible foil and solar energy. There is currently a prototype that can currently degrade ammonia in livestock houses into water and harmless gas.
“With the nitrogen crisis, this is indeed an egg of Columbus, but you do need a very good business plan to convince investors. The technology fund is hopeful. We have already been in contact and there is interest from both sides to tighten up the financing a bit.” We hope to bring our product to market within four years.”