4 things you might have missed from State Secretary Mona Keijzer’s startup letter.
This month it was announced by the State Secretary Mona Keijzer that 65 million euros have been made available startup and scale-ups policies. You may have heard that part of this announcement was the continuation of StartupDelta as TechLeap.NL (🎉) with a new focus on the themes of capital, talent, and market in relation to rapid growth.
What you may have missed though in all the noise was all the other exciting and impactful measures that were also announced. Here’s a selection below broken down that is sure to push the Dutch Startup Ecosystem in the right direction.
Giving startups options
Stock options or ESOP’s specifically are a great way to attract talent to your organization. You give employees the opportunity to own a piece of the business they are working so hard to make a success. The use of employee stock options is specifically prevalent in leading startup hubs such as Silicon Valley where they act as a way to supplement salaries and keep job offers competitive.
This has always been a challenge for the Netherlands with the complex tax system surrounding employee stock option plans and taxation at the point of exercise not at the point of sale. Together with the Minister of Finance, there will be an exploration into the current challenges with the surrounding tax regime for stock options. The reason for this exploration is that taxation takes place in the present regime when the stock option is exercised, while there may be unlisted shares and not always have cash available to satisfy the tax.
The objective is to achieve an arrangement, in which the moment of taxation is moved from the moment of application of the stock, to the moment of the transfer of the shares obtained with the stock options. This should make it more attractive for talent to work for a startup or scale-up. The adaptation of the scheme will be developed and incorporated into a bill aiming to reach an effective date of January 1, 2021.
University Innovations to Market
The Netherlands has fantastic universities with some of the world’s leading thinkers conducting research in emerging technologies. The challenge has always been to convert this into burgeoning startups and turning their research into a marketable product.
To help democratize academic knowledge in technological fields and map out the academic research ecosystem a new initiative was started called the ScienceFinder. The ScienceFinder (early access) allows you to search for the most relevant universities and university researchers with an overview of how they are interconnected with other institutions.
TechLeap.NL is pioneering the initiative in cooperation with 4TU, TNO, NWO and will soon be working with the VNSU, funded by the Ministry of Economy and Climate (EZK). The aim is to make clear to companies in which knowledge institutions relevant knowledge is present. It contributes to the cooperation between industry and research institutions with the hope of commercializing leading research.
International Expansion Support Network
Earlier this year, six priority international, metropolitan areas (hubs) have been identified, where Dutch startups and scale-ups could scale well. These are:
San Francisco/Los Angeles
New York / Boston
Singapore
Berlin
Paris
London
In these areas, new local networks will be built to offer instant support to Dutch startups and scale-ups. This will include access to potential partners, customers, and mentors. A key part of this measure will be the hiring of local Startup Liason Officers who help build out these networks. The goal is to have hired all officers by the beginning of 2020. TechLeap.NL will actively provide them with information on the opportunities and needs of Dutch startups in these hubs in the areas of capital, talent and market access.
Frictionless landing for Talent
Coming to a new country to set up a business or continue your career can be a stressful experience. Finding somewhere to live, setting up a bank account and on top of that making sure you can actually live there in the first place. The Netherlands is finding it difficult to create as much tech talent as the market needs so, therefore, bringing in skilled people from abroad is a great way to help fill the labor shortage.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), the Minister of Justice and Security (JenV) and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) therefore will conduct a pilot that will create a residence scheme for key personnel going to a startup from outside the EU. The goal is to initiate this pilot by Summer 2020. Another measure taken by the Minister of Social Affairs is free access to the labor market for foreign partners of people who are self-employed. The goal with these changes is to make the Netherlands a more attractive location for startup entrepreneurs and international talent.
