Amsterdam candidate location to host NATO Investment Fund

A large NATO investment fund could be established in Amsterdam. The military alliance will decide today where the NATO Investment Fund for start-ups will be located, sources involved told Financieele Dagblad. The fund will receive 1 billion euros from Member States and could be a big boost for the Dutch tech sector.

The fund is intended to give young European tech companies a boost. Specifically, companies focused on advanced technology that is also suitable for military applications, like artificial intelligence, biotech, and quantum computers. Energy technology is another focus of the fund. Startups in these “deep tech” areas need a lot of money to develop their product but often find it difficult to obtain private funding. Investment funds consider them too risky.

The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) proposed the Netherlands as a candidate location last autumn. The NFIA is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is responsible for bringing foreign companies to the Netherlands.

The NFIA told FD that the NATO fund’s presence in the Dutch capital could have a “flywheel effect” on national startups. The fund puts the Netherlands “on the map as a country where you want to be a venture capital fund and can therefore attract other funds,” the agency said. The fund also means that Dutch startups could get money more easily, and it could attract more knowledge to the Netherlands.

According to FD’s sources, a NATO delegation visited the Dutch Authority on Financial Markets (AFM) in the spring to find out how quickly the fund could go through the admission procedure. The AFM refused to comment to the newspaper.