What Brabant Startup Fund does

Brabant Startup Fund (legal name Brabant Startup Fonds BV) is a Dutch provincial government-backed early-stage investment vehicle based in 's-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. Wholly owned by Provincie Noord-Brabant, the fund focuses exclusively on deploying seed and pre-seed capital into deep-tech startups headquartered in the Brabant region, with thematic emphasis on semiconductor thermal management, green hydrogen production, and dual-use wearable defense technology. Its investment activity is anchored by the regional deep-tech ecosystem around Eindhoven, TNO, and imec, and its strategic role is to address early-stage funding gaps for Proof-of-Concept work and initial commercialization of breakthrough technologies.

The fund's core offering is equity capital, typically structured as seed or pre-seed tickets, with a documented participation range of €500,000 alongside co-investors (CoolSem, January 2026) and inclusion in a €1.5 million pre-seed syndicate (Touchwaves, January 2026). It consistently co-invests rather than leads, partnering with Netherlands-focused venture funds (Future Tech Ventures, NOM, SecFund), corporate venture arms (imec.istart, TNO Ventures), and corporate banks (Rabobank) to assemble local deals. Its business model is upside-linked: the fund's economic return derives from capital appreciation of portfolio exits rather than recurring product/service revenue, and it does not publicly disclose investment terms, fund size, AUM, or management fees.

The portfolio as currently disclosed comprises three companies spanning three distinct deep-tech verticals: CoolSem (semiconductor thermal management via the WaLTIS multilayer stack), Touchwaves (dual-use wearable haptics for military cockpits, a TNO spin-off planning headcount growth from six to ten), and Avoxt (membrane-free electrolyser for green hydrogen, with commercialization targeted for 2030). The fund's value proposition to portfolio companies is regional proximity, public-sector alignment, and the ability to syndicate with other Brabant-rooted capital providers; its value proposition to the province is the conversion of public mandate into a curated early-stage deep-tech portfolio inside its jurisdiction.

Name

Brabant Startup Fund

Legal name

Brabant Startup Fonds BV

Website

https://brabant.nl

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Brabant Startup Fund (Brabant Startup Fonds BV) is a Dutch provincial government-backed early-stage investment vehicle owned by Provincie Noord-Brabant, deploying seed and pre-seed capital into Brabant-based deep-tech startups in semiconductor thermal management, green hydrogen, and dual-use wearable defense technology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)

Keywords

• Early-stage venture capital
• Deep-tech startup investing
• Regional investment fund
• Pre-seed and seed funding
• Climate and defense tech investment

Headquarters

HQ city

's-hertogenbosch

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Brabant Startup Fund is a provincial early-stage investment fund that provides equity capital to Brabant-based deep-tech startups working on semiconductors, green hydrogen, and defense-related technologies. It participates in seed and pre-seed financing rounds alongside other investors to accelerate Proof-of-Concept and commercialization milestones for portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Early-stage equity investments in Brabant deep-tech startups Equity capital provided to startups in the Noord-Brabant region through seed, pre-seed, and undisclosed early-stage financing rounds, focused on deep-tech, sustainability, and defense technology companies.
• Co-investment syndication with banking, research, and venture partners Joining funding rounds alongside partners such as Rabobank, Future Tech Ventures, NOM, TNO Ventures, imec.istart, Joanna Invests, and NWO to provide capital for Proof-of-Concept and commercialization milestones.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• NOM (Investerings- en Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij voor Noord-Nederland): Dutch regional development investor that co-invested in Avoxt with Brabant Startup Fund; comparable as a provincially-backed Dutch regional VC with similar early-stage mandate in the northern Netherlands.
• UNIIQ: South Holland-based seed fund backed by regional Dutch governments and Erasmus MC/ TU Delft; comparable as a Dutch provincially-supported seed vehicle targeting innovative early-stage technology startups.

Direct peers

• imec.istart: Imec's deep-tech accelerator/seed fund for semiconductor and nano-tech spin-outs; co-invested in Touchwaves with Brabant Startup Fund and operates in the same semiconductor/hardware ecosystem in the Netherlands/Belgium.
• TNO Ventures: Venture arm of TNO (Dutch applied research organisation); co-invested with Brabant Startup Fund in Touchwaves and sources deals from the same TNO spin-off pipeline, making it a directly comparable Dutch deep-tech seed investor.
• SecFund: Dutch seed VC focused on dual-use/defense and security technology; led the Touchwaves pre-seed round with Brabant Startup Fund as co-investor, making it a directly comparable deep-tech defense seed fund.
• Future Tech Ventures: Dutch deep-tech seed/early-stage VC that co-invested with Brabant Startup Fund in Avoxt; comparable as a regional Netherlands-based deep-tech investor with similar ticket sizes and stage focus.
• LUMO Labs: Dutch early-stage impact-focused deep-tech VC backing ventures in AI, blockchain, robotics, and clean tech; comparable as a Netherlands-based seed/Series A deep-tech investor with similar dual-use and sustainability angles.
• Shift Invest: Dutch impact VC investing in sustainability, food, and health tech at early stages; comparable as a Netherlands-based early-stage fund with thematic deep-tech and clean-tech exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Invest-NL: Dutch national impact investor financed by the Dutch Ministry of Finance; comparable as a Dutch government-backed fund-of-fund/co-investor active in deep-tech, hydrogen, and high-tech ventures — a larger, national analog to Brabant Startup Fund.
• EIC Fund (European Innovation Council): EU-level deep-tech investor backing European early-stage breakthrough innovation through grants and equity; comparable as a public-sector-backed deep-tech fund operating in the same pre-seed/seed/Series A stages across the EU.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/provincie-noord-brabant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments11 records

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Frequently asked questions about Brabant Startup Fund