More customers for European tech companies as people seek non-American alternatives
European tech companies are seeing an increase in the number of new customers, NOS reports after surveying ten of them. They link the increase to recent calls to become less dependent on American providers. That desire also fueled a renewed call by Invest-NL to invest in Dutch semiconductor technology.
The vast majority of Dutch consumers, companies, and governments use American cloud services like Google’s Gmail, Drive, and Docs, or Microsoft’s Outlook. For some time, experts have warned that the Netherlands is too digitally dependent on the United States. Privacy experts are also concerned about how much power the American government has to demand data from American companies.
NOS approached 17 European tech companies, including email providers, data storage services, and platforms that offer the possibility to work together in documents. Ten of them responded. All ten said that their customers have increased recently. For example, the German email provider Tuta Mail had almost three times as many paying customers sign up in March as in June last year.
Invest-NL also stressed independence and competitiveness when urging investors to push money into Dutch chip-making in a report presented at the TNO Semicon Event in Eindhoven on Thursday. According to Invest-NL, the Netherlands needs to focus on three critical areas of semiconductor technology—heterogeneous integration, metrology and inspection, and chiplet-based designs—to maintain its global competitiveness.
The report identifies these areas as essential for strengthening the country’s position in the semiconductor sector. Heterogeneous integration involves combining various semiconductor technologies into advanced packaging solutions. Metrology and inspection ensure quality and precision in chip manufacturing. Chiplet-based designs, which use smaller, specialized chips that work together as a single powerful unit, can help lower design costs for startups and increase the efficiency of chip production. These innovations reportedly make it easier for new businesses to scale and grow.
The report also underscores the global reliance on a few major players in semiconductor manufacturing. This highlights the importance of bolstering Europe’s semiconductor industry, especially in the Netherlands. With key players like ASML and a vibrant ecosystem of semiconductor startups and scale-ups, the Netherlands is reportedly in a strong position to lead.
Invest-NL advocates for increased investment, particularly from larger European funds, to support the growth of these startups. The organization says it is committed to helping these businesses succeed by providing financial backing and working with both public and private sector partners within the semiconductor ecosystem.
In addition to funding, collaboration is vital for success. Two weeks ago, TNO, Techleap, and Invest-NL formed a partnership to boost innovation, entrepreneurship, and scaling efforts.
The findings are being presented today to Serpil Tascioglu, Director of Top Sectors & Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, during the TNO Semicon Event in Eindhoven. The event is gathering approximately 300 decision-makers, engineers, and policymakers from the semiconductor industry and research institutions. Speakers include representatives from ASML, Intel, Nearfield Instruments, the European Commission, and Brainport Eindhoven.
