Dutch pension backs startups

Dutch pension fund PME plans to invest about €400 million in Dutch high-tech startups and scaleups over the coming years to keep them from foreign buyers. (bnr.nl) PME chair Alae Laghrich told Het Financieele Dagblad, as quoted by BNR on April 15, that the fund wants promising companies to stay in the Netherlands and still deliver “solid returns.” PME is the pension fund for the metal and technology sector. (bnr.nl) (pmepensioen.nl) The move adds to PME’s earlier startup investing. In March 2024, PME and PMT said they would put €100 million into Dutch deep-tech scaleups through Innovation Industries’ Strategic Partners Fund, after PME had already committed €175 million to earlier Innovation Industries rounds. (pmepensioen.nl) Deep-tech companies often need years of engineering work before they reach large sales, which makes late-stage funding harder to find. PME said in 2024 that these businesses face long timelines for market adoption and too little capital for a final growth push. (pmepensioen.nl) The timing fits a wider European push to keep more growth capital at home. The European Commission’s startup and scaleup strategy says the bloc wants founders and investors to “Choose Europe” instead of relocating outside the European Union. (research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu) Brussels is also building a separate Scaleup Europe Fund for late-stage strategic technology companies in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics and space. The Commission says the fund manager selection is expected in April 2026. (eic.ec.europa.eu) Dutch policymakers have been pressing pension funds to put more retirement money into domestic startups and scaleups, and BNR said PME’s plan answers that call. Pension funds have long argued that they still need investments to meet return targets for savers. (bnr.nl) PME is large enough for the decision to carry weight in the Dutch market. The fund says it serves 166,000 active participants and 167,000 pensioners in the metal and technology sector. (pmepensioen.nl) The fund has also been widening its investment activity beyond listed markets. In March 2026, PME and PMT said they would invest €1.15 billion in medium-sized Dutch and European companies. (pmepensioen.nl) For Dutch startups looking for bigger checks without selling abroad, PME is trying to make pension money part of the answer. (bnr.nl)