Last week, Techleap—alongside TNO—released a report spotlighting the Future of Compute (FoC) in The Netherlands. This report takes a closer look at the most pressing challenges facing Dutch deeptech companies and delivers urgent recommendations for policymakers and ecosystem leaders. At OrangeQS, we recognize these critical challenges and strongly endorse the report’s main takeaway: a bold, large-scale multi-billion-euro investment is essential over the next five years to ensure the sector’s continued growth and global competitiveness.
Report by Techleap on the Future of Compute, in partnership with TNO
The Netherlands has established itself as a major European player in Future of Compute (FoC). It captured 30% of European investment thanks to world-class research institutions, strategic government funding, and industry leaders like ASML, NXP Semiconductors, ASML, and Besi.
To scale emerging FoC ventures and prevent foreign buyouts, an urgent investment of €4B is required over the next five years and talent shortages and funding gaps threaten this lead.
This €4B is estimated based on the capital needed in the next five years to scale 9 of the 18 Dutch FoC scale-ups to unicorn status, inspired by the growth trajectories of American and European peers and the remaining funding gaps. The report warns that if companies do not secure this funding in time, they face “up-or-out” dynamics, with buyouts or even bankruptcy, and that the lack of large tickets in Europe risks foreign exits and buy-outs.
Techleap recommends that financial instruments de-risk hardware manufacturing and facilitate major (late-stage) funding rounds, and that this €4B capital projection be financed through a combination of EU programs, national guarantees, and private investors.
About the report
Developed in partnership with TNO and with support from Invest-NL, the Techleap report showcases fast-growing Dutch ventures and the urgent challenges they face whilst scaling. The analysis draws on data research and insights from Techleap’s intensive collaboration with the Future of Compute founder community—including active contributions from OrangeQS—over the past year.
Challenges
Powered by strong industry–academia collaboration, a diverse portfolio of Dutch Future of Compute scaleups is on the rise in Europe. Techleap’s report notes that sustained global growth will require substantially more capital as well as tackling systemic scaling challenges. Techleap has identified five key challenges that need urgent attention to keep the cohort on its growth trajectory.
5 key challenges for companies to scale
Securing Growth Capital & Exit Opportunities
Investor familiarity with compute technologies remains limited, leading to hesitation around early and late-stage funding. Uncertainty around market adoption further reduces available capital. The VIFO Act adds regulatory complexity, slowing investment decisions and exit planning.
Building a Strong Leadership Team & Competing for Talent
There is a shortage of technical specialists and executives with experience in compute. Global competition for architects, chip designers, and systems engineers intensifies the challenge, as this drives compensations beyond what many Dutch scaleups can offer. This makes recruitment and retention increasingly difficult.
Breaking into Markets & Establishing Strategic Partnerships
Access to advanced compute components is increasingly uncertain due to geopolitical shifts, export controls, and reliance on non-European suppliers. Founders also face difficulties obtaining validation or certification from established industry players and institutes such as TNO. Compute technologies require deep integration into highly specialized customer systems yet limited scale and engineering bandwidth make compatibility assurance difficult, delaying commercial rollout.
Scaling Operations & Industrializing Technology
Limited visibility into European fabrication capabilities makes it challenging for companies to identify viable production partners. Europe faces a shortage of semiconductor and specialized fabrication capacity, forcing scale-ups to rely on non-European facilities, which increases lead times, IP exposure, and logistical risk. Transitioning from prototypes to full production requires significant capital expenditure for equipment, cleanroom access, and process integration. These costs widen the funding gap and few investors or lenders in Europe are equipped for this manufacturing risk.
Navigating Regulatory & Policy Environments
Compute ventures face overlapping and evolving compliance regimes, including export controls, dual-use regulations, IP law, and VIFO requirements. Approval delays, shifting security standards, and resource-intensive licensing processes slow access to global markets and place disproportionate strain on small teams. In addition, national and EU support plans for hardware manufacturing and pilot lines remain difficult to access. The absence of targeted public procurement schemes and limited founder representation in policymaking prevents startups from influencing the regulatory frameworks that directly shape their scaling path.
Recommendations
Recommendations: 4 themes require decisive actions
Crowd in Capital
Create a targeted investment strategy that mobilises EU programs, national guarantees, and private capital to meet the €4B funding need. Instruments should de-risk hardware manufacturing, support large late-stage (Series C+) rounds, and strengthen European exit pathways for major scaleups.
Founder Support
Provide training for leadership, fundraising, sector-specific challenges, and market entry. Offer tailored international market support and expand access to strategic intelligence and networks.
Talent Sourcing Program
Focused initiatives are required to attract and retain experienced scaling executives and technical experts. Promote FoC companies and the broader ecosystem to global candidates, extend talent efforts such as ‘Choose Europe for Science’ to business roles. Transform the competition with industry leaders in talent acquisition partnerships.
Ecosystem Development
Prioritise support for the most promising scaleups and organise resources around their specific needs. Stimulate investments and develop tailored scaling conditions. Manage stakeholder relationships at the highest levels of government in The Hague and Brussels. Position the Dutch FoC hub with industry, startups and academia on the global stage.
About Techleap
What started as a government-subsidized initiative, Techleap has now become a grassroots movement driven by founders themselves. Techleap exists to solve a critical issue: startups in the Netherlands struggle to scale, missing out on major opportunities for growth and value creation. By empowering founders and building a supportive, self-sustaining community, Techleap accelerates the entire tech ecosystem and helps position the Netherlands at the forefront of global innovation. We are grateful for Techleap bringing together scale-up companies around the Future of Compute theme through the Pole Position program that started in 2024. OrangeQS participated in the Pole Position program and has been actively involved in numerous Techleap initiatives since its founding.
Read the full report here!
