AETHERION Worldwide is the fundraising and landing practice of AETHERION Capital.
Which Dutch regional development fund fits your company?
The one that covers the province where your Dutch company actually sits. The Netherlands has nine regional development companies, known as ROMs, each with its own area. They invest rather than give subsidies, they usually take a minority stake, and they expect your company to be present in their region.
This guide is for a founder who has read that the Netherlands has regional funds for startups and wants to know which one applies. In Dutch they are the regionale ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen, usually shortened to ROMs. The Dutch government portal counts nine of them, each covering its own province or group of provinces.
The comparison below is not really a choice. You do not pick a ROM the way you pick an investor: the region picks you, because every one of them only invests where its own money is meant to land. What is worth comparing is how much they put in, in what form, and what they ask for in return.
The nine funds, side by side
| Fund | Region it covers | Published investment range | Form the money takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOM | Noord-Brabant | EUR 150,000 to EUR 5 million | share capital or a subordinated loan |
| Horizon Flevoland | Flevoland | EUR 50,000 to EUR 1 million for innovation finance | a subordinated, convertible loan |
| Impuls Zeeland | Zeeland | mainly up to EUR 1 million, exceptionally to EUR 2.5 million | a shareholding, sometimes with a loan |
| InnovationQuarter | Zuid-Holland | EUR 250,000 to EUR 5 million | equity, usually next to co-investors |
| LIOF | Limburg | EUR 100,000 to EUR 5 million | share capital, with a subordinated or convertible loan |
| NOM | Groningen, Fryslan and Drenthe | EUR 50,000 to EUR 2.5 million | convertible loan, equity or a subordinated loan |
| Oost NL | Gelderland and Overijssel | up to EUR 5 million | equity, subordinated and convertible loans |
| ROM InWest | Noord-Holland | EUR 300,000 to EUR 5 million | loans, equity or a combination |
| ROM Utrecht Region | Utrecht and the Gooi and Vecht area | EUR 500,000 to EUR 2 million from its participation fund | equity and convertible loans |
Sources:
Ondernemersplein, Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen (in Dutch)
BOM, Financing for startups and scaleups
Horizon Flevoland, Innovatiefinanciering (in Dutch)
Impuls Zeeland, Zeeuws Participatiefonds (in Dutch)
InnovationQuarter, Funding for startups and scale-ups
LIOF, Participation fund
NOM, Investeringsvehikels (in Dutch)
Oost NL, Participatiefonds Oost NL (in Dutch)
ROM InWest, Financiering (in Dutch)
ROM Utrecht Region, Participatiefonds (in Dutch)
What they have in common
They are investors with public shareholders, and that shapes the terms more than the region does. The government portal is blunt about the first point: a ROM does not give subsidies. The money comes back, either as a repaid loan or through a sale of the shares.
Three patterns run through almost all of them:
- A minority stake. BOM caps its holding at 49%, ROM InWest at 49.9% of the total share capital and debt, and ROM Utrecht Region works between 5% and 49%. None of them wants control of your company.
- A co-investor next to them. ROM Utrecht Region requires at least 25% external private money in its startup fund and at least 65% in its participation fund. ROM InWest asks private investors for at least 25% of each round.
- A fixed horizon. BOM works with an investment horizon of three to seven years, and LIOF aims at an exit in five to seven years. The money is patient, not permanent.
Sources:
BOM, Financing for startups and scaleups
ROM InWest, Financiering (in Dutch)
ROM Utrecht Region, Participatiefonds (in Dutch)
ROM Utrecht Region, veelgestelde vragen (in Dutch)
LIOF, Participation fund
What they look at
Presence first. Oost NL asks that a company is actually established in Gelderland or Overijssel and carries out its activities there. NOM only invests in companies established in Groningen, Drenthe or Fryslan, or with substantial activities there. LIOF asks that a company is actually established in Limburg, physically and actively present. InnovationQuarter supports entrepreneurs active in Zuid-Holland.
After the region comes the theme. Each fund names the transitions it is there for, usually some combination of energy, health, food, materials, digital technology and the circular economy. A company whose technology does not touch any of them is a harder fit, whatever its numbers look like.
Then comes maturity. ROM Utrecht Region asks for a technology at readiness level six or higher for its participation fund, which means something that has been demonstrated in a relevant environment. Oost NL asks for a well-founded business plan with a clear exit strategy. ROM InWest asks that the case is ready for the market but not yet financeable by private investors alone, which is a useful description of what all of these funds are for.
Sources:
Oost NL, Participatiefonds Oost NL (in Dutch)
NOM, Investeringscriteria (in Dutch)
LIOF, Participation fund
ROM Utrecht Region, Participatiefonds (in Dutch)
ROM InWest, Financiering (in Dutch)
How the region decides for you
For a company landing from outside Europe, this turns a funding question into a location question. Where the Dutch company is registered, where the staff work and where the lab or the line sits decides which fund is even allowed to look at you. Moving later is possible, but a ROM invests in the region it serves, so the decision travels with the address. Which city fits which kind of company is set out in how to choose a city in the Netherlands.
It also sets the order of things. A regional investor is not usually the first public money a landing company touches, because the tax schemes reward payroll a company already has, while a ROM needs a plan, a co-investor and a team on the ground. The full map is in which government grants a startup can get, and the state loan that sits next to these funds is in the Dutch Innovation Credit.
Where regional money fits in a move to Europe
A ROM is a shareholder with a public mandate, so it is an investor conversation, not an application form. Why money that does not cost you shares usually comes before a funding round at all is explained in Equity-free money first.
Sources
- Ondernemersplein, Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- BOM, Financing for startups and scaleups, checked 22 September 2026
- Horizon Flevoland, Innovatiefinanciering (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- Impuls Zeeland, Zeeuws Participatiefonds (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- InnovationQuarter, Funding for startups and scale-ups, checked 22 September 2026
- LIOF, Participation fund, checked 22 September 2026
- NOM, Investeringscriteria (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- Oost NL, Participatiefonds Oost NL (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- ROM InWest, Financiering (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- ROM Utrecht Region, Participatiefonds (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
- ROM Utrecht Region, veelgestelde vragen (in Dutch), checked 22 September 2026
Checked on 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules change: check the official source, or ask an adviser, before you act on it.
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