Dutch AI sector behind other EU countries, despite having highest density of AI talent

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies in the Netherlands are growing more slowly than competitors in other European countries, Techleap said in its annual report, The State of Dutch Tech. This is even though the Netherlands has the highest density of AI talent in Europe (10.9 professionals per 10,000 inhabitants).

According to the Techleap report, one of the problems standing in the way of Dutch AI talent’s continued growth is a subsidized organization aimed at helping young, innovative companies grow. They predominantly choose to support large companies rather than startups and scale-ups within artificial intelligence.

Furthermore, little venture capital is allocated to companies focused on AI in the Netherlands. The report states that access to funding and computing power should be made easier. Techleap also criticized the lack of access to venture capital.

In the Netherlands, 27 percent of venture capital investments go to AI companies, compared to 32 percent in the European Union and 60 percent in the United States. “The Netherlands receives only a fraction of the investments flowing into London, Paris, and Berlin,” the report states.

Growing companies, in particular, face great difficulty in securing funding. Amsterdam still ranks sixth globally for early-stage AI investments, but drops to 18th place when funding is needed for growth in later stages.

Partly because of this, startups rarely develop into scale-ups, only 21 percent of the time. In the EU, this figure is 31 percent, and in the U.S., 81 percent.