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EU-opportunities

Our passion is to explore EU business opportunities with entrepreneurs in East Netherlands. We work with businesses in finding the right EU support program that matches their R&D activities, innovation projects or business cases. Examples of these opportunities are the ERDF (European Fund for Regional Development), INTERREG (European Fund for Cross-border Regional Development) and Horizon 2020 (R&D program for Europe).

Oost NL guides entrepreneurs to the best business opportunities that EU programs provide. It’s not only about funding; it’s also about working together with European partners, finding that exact expertise you were looking for, and expanding your commercial network. In short, funding is not isolated, but another tool to leverage SMEs to more innovation, internationalization and growth.

Contact us to see how we can help you do business in Europe that much easier. Our goal is to help as many SMEs as possible in East Netherlands to seize the opportunities that EU programs offer.

East Netherlands Development Agency NL (Oost NL) promotes development in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel. Its mission is to help innovative entrepreneurs to move forward. Oost NL works in four areas to boost the performance of companies and create sustainable employment:   

  • Innovation

    Oost NL supports and promotes innovation in SMEs. One of the ways we do this is by facilitating the exchange of knowledge between SMEs and knowledge institutions. Another is to assist in the formation of R&D consortia of companies and institutions with the goal of developing new products in a collaborative effort. By supporting start-up entrepreneurs in the value chain, from business concept to product launch, allows us to help turn knowledge into commercial value. We also help match risk capital from business angels to appropriate business ventures in the area. We do this by managing business angel networks in East Netherlands, and by our active membership in Business Angels Europe.

  • Internationalisation

    We actively support direct foreign investment in East Netherlands. One way we do this is by using our knowledge, experience and networks to support foreign investors in their business development efforts in our region. Another is international technology matchmaking of domestic companies. Additionally, we support domestic companies in their efforts to develop promising markets and to find technology partners outside the Netherlands. This involves strategic alliances and R&D collaborations with foreign companies that seek new business opportunities in the East Netherlands. This sort of international collaboration serves all parties, foreign and domestic.

  • Investments

    Oost NL supplies venture capital to business ventures by managing funds issued by the governments of Gelderland and Overijssel. At the beginning of 2015 the total value of its portfolio amounted  to € 150 million in equity investments listed on the balance sheets of young and promising new businesses. Oost NL also manages the Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI) – a mutual investment fund. The core activity of DVI is investing in new businesses from the pre-seed stage of the formulation of the business opportunity onwards, until the stages of expansion into the market and trade sale of shares.  

  • Infrastructure

    Our work in the field of Business infrastructure involves coordinating the redevelopment projects of existing industrial estates and developing new business innovation centres for high tech business start-ups and R&D facilities. These innovation centres are breeding places for business start-ups and collaborative R&D-programmes of companies and knowledge institutions.