April 16, 2026 -
By Gordon Feller, allaboutcircuits.com
The Netherlands' €1.1B integrated photonics initiative, led by PhotonDelta, is driving global leadership by financing startups and strengthening the supply chain.
For years, one of the Dutch government’s primary objectives has been to accelerate the development of new companies. In order to stimulate company formation and company growth, PhotonDelta has two complementary financing instruments at its disposal. The Startup Fund, worth €60M and supported by the National Growth Fund, focuses on the earliest phase and offers pre-seed loans and innovation vouchers to help young teams move from research to their first steps in the market.
For companies reaching the next stage of growth, there is PhotonVentures, a fund of approximately €100M that was established in 2022 and has already attracted international investors. This fund provides venture capital to startups and scale-ups that want to industrialize and scale up their technology. Together, the Startup Fund and PhotonVentures ensure a continuous pipeline of new companies, attract private investment, and enable the supply chain to renew and strengthen itself.