Regional funding

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For your project that means: the place of establishment partly determines which instruments are open, what kind of project fits and when you can submit.

How the regional, national and European levels work together

Not every scheme applies across the whole of the Netherlands. Provinces, regional development agencies, delivery bodies such as Stimulus and SNN, and cooperating regions set their own priorities. In addition, various national schemes are opened separately by region.

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Options by region

Energy, hydrogen and chemicals define the picture, with a strong concentration around the port and the northern energy cluster.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Groningen qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Water technology, agrifood and maritime manufacturing are to the fore.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Friesland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Sensor technology, agrifood and green chemistry are strongly represented.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Drenthe qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Manufacturing, plastics and health form the core.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Overijssel qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Food, health and energy are the spearheads, with strong knowledge clusters around Wageningen, Nijmegen and Arnhem.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Gelderland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Agrifood, logistics and aviation-related business activity define the profile.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Flevoland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Life sciences, ICT and healthcare are central.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Utrecht qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

ICT, life sciences, the circular economy and agrifood are broadly represented.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Noord-Holland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

The port and industry around Rotterdam, greenhouse horticulture, maritime engineering and the technology cluster around Delft define the picture.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Zuid-Holland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

The maritime economy, the process industry and offshore wind form the core.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Zeeland qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

High-tech manufacturing, semiconductors, agrifood and automotive are strongly represented.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Noord-Brabant qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

Chemicals, life sciences, IT and agrifood define the profile.

We assess individually which scheme your project in Limburg qualifies for. The Funding Scan gives an initial indication.

When a regional scheme is the better choice

A different order of magnitude.

Regional schemes generally range between roughly 50,000 and 350,000 euros. National schemes often begin only where those end and run up to a million and more. For smaller projects, the regional route is therefore often the more realistic one.

An earlier stage of development.

Schemes are usually tied to a particular development stage, expressed in TRL. Regional schemes often align with a lower TRL than national ones, and thus with work that is further from the market. Where your project stands therefore strongly determines which level fits.

Regional priorities.

Regions fund in a targeted way along their own strategy, for example around particular clusters or technologies.

A good first step.

If you have no experience with funding yet, a regional scheme is often a sensible start. You learn what is asked for in substance and how the administration works. A year later, a national application then stands on much firmer ground.

MIT as the clearest example

MIT opens separately per region. Conditions, themes and submission periods differ by area, covering among others Noord-Nederland, Noord-Holland, Flevoland, Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, Overijssel, Gelderland and Zuid-Nederland, alongside a national window.

What is identical in every region is the structure of the project plan itself. The required chapters and the assessment criteria are the same wherever you submit. Only the surrounding context differs.

This is where most applications fail before they are even written: the project fits substantively, but the region is closed or the theme does not match.

Provinces, development agencies and delivery bodies

Alongside the regionally opened national schemes, provinces, regional development agencies and delivery bodies run their own instruments. Which those are, and how they relate to one another, differs by area.

We support regional schemes across the country. In the north, east and south the possibilities are generally broader, and that is where we have built up most experience.

How regional, national and European levels work together

The three levels do not exclude each other, but they usually cover different stages of a journey. Regional schemes tend to target earlier development work, national schemes larger and more advanced projects. Investment support, by contrast, is not typically available at regional level in most areas.
What matters is a clean separation of costs: the same costs cannot be funded twice. We therefore assess all three levels together before the first application is written, and set the sequence.