Startup financing in the Northern Netherlands | Q1 2026

How did funding go for Northern Dutch startups, scale-ups and other ventures in Q1 2026?

In the following, we dive into how ventures from the Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe regions performed from a funding perspective in the first quarter of 2026.

We'll also provide details on each venture, who they raised funds from, and how this capital can help them reach their next milestone.

Let's dive in!

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Performance of Northern Dutch Startups & Scale-ups

Northern Dutch ventures kicked off 2026 with strong and diverse funding activity in Q1, with at least €167 million in disclosed capital raised across thirteen tracked companies.

This total is heavily influenced by Novar's landmark €160M financing round: by far the largest deal of the quarter.

Excluding this outlier, the remaining disclosed rounds represent a healthy ~€5.7M in early-stage and growth capital, with several additional rounds remaining undisclosed.

The largest disclosed rounds included:

• Novar (€160M)
• QT Sense (€4M seed equity + €1M grants)
• Primio (€1.9M)
• Anonymous company (€400K)
• IonIQs (€350K)
• ModAlgae (€350K)
• SPCTR (€350K)
• Loook (€150K)
• ForensifAI (€50K)
• Upshift (€25K)

Ventures including Club Collect, EasyPay, Green Logistics Groningen, and Newthex also raised funds, but did not publicly disclose amounts.

The table below presents a snapshot of the sectors the ventures are active in:

Where did the funds come from?

Q1 2026 reveals a financing landscape still heavily anchored in public and semi-public capital at the early stages.

The most active investor of the quarter was Future Tech Ventures (FTV), backing three companies (ForensifAI, ModAlgae, and SPCTR) with proof-of-concept tickets between €50K and €350K.

Beyond FTV, regional development organizations dominated: NOM co-invested in both Primio and Newthex, the Groninger Groeifonds co-invested in Newthex, SNN provided non-dilutive grant funding to Upshift via its VIA program, and NEW-TTT supported IonIQs.

Truly private capital was limited: Cottonwood Technology Fund and QDNL Participations backed QT Sense, Invincible Software Holdings took a strategic stake in Club Collect, and PMH Investments invested in EasyPay, though the latter two are closer to strategic or PE-style investors than traditional VC.

Round types skewed heavily toward pre-seed and proof-of-concept stage (€25K–€350K), with only Primio (€1.9M) and QT Sense (€4M) representing meaningful seed-to-early-growth rounds.

Geographically, activity remained concentrated around Groningen with of couple of investments made in Frysian companies and Drenthe-based Club Collect.

The standout outlier is Novar's €160M project financing from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which is structurally distinct: infrastructure-level PE capital for a renewable energy developer, not startup equity.

Stripping Novar out, total disclosed early-stage capital for Q1 sits at approximately €5.7M.

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Summary of funds raised by startups and scale-ups in the North

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Closing thoughts

Q1 2026 demonstrates that the Northern Netherlands startup ecosystem is maturing, not just in volume, but in diversity.

From deep-tech quantum sensing and lithium recovery to AI-powered surgical tools and mobile healthcare learning, the region is producing ventures that compete well beyond its borders.

The heavy reliance on public and semi-public capital remains a defining characteristic of the ecosystem, but signs of growing private interest - through strategic investors, angels, and sector-specific funds - suggest the funding mix is gradually evolving.

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