AI Scaling Challenges for Dutch Founders and 11 Recommendations to Overcome Them

The Dutch AI ecosystem stands at a critical juncture, poised for significant growth but facing challenges that could hinder its potential. To navigate this landscape effectively, Techleap has undertaken a comprehensive research to assess the current state of the ecosystem from a founders perspective. Through desk research, a targeted survey, and in-depth interviews with AI founders and ecosystem players, we have gained insights into the current Dutch AI landscape and its obstacles, based on which we came up with 10 concrete actions to tackle the hurdles of Dutch AI founders and to enhance the future of AI in the Netherlands.

The report dives into the 4 main challenges of Dutch AI Founders, and provides 11 actionable recommendations.

Funding

There seems to be a technical disconnect between Dutch AI founders and Dutch AI VCs. A better understanding of the depth and width of AI technologies and their applications is required for Dutch VCs to enhance their AI investments. Also, Dutch AI founders should improve their presentation skills, regarding their AI technology. Public funding allocation and access should also be optimised.

Industry awareness & adoption

Key decision-makers and public influencers in the Dutch AI ecosystem lack specific AI knowledge, hindering their ability to support founders. This disconnect leads to unclear regulations, slow adoption by end-users, and negative media sentiment, impacting the overall implementation and acceptance of AI.

Market access

Market access is a major challenge for AI companies, particularly those developing expert systems. AI founders need access to joint research facilities and clean, computational, and randomised datasets to expand their application opportunities.

Talent

Dutch AI founders struggle with attracting and retaining AI talent. Better understanding of tech talent and more international recruitment could be a solution to address this talent gap.

11 Recommendations

Dutch Founders: Seek angels and VCs with relevant AI expertise in- and outside of the Netherlands
Dutch VCs: Enhance technical AI expertise and co-invest with international AI funds
Public Investment Agencies: Centralise and enhance public funding
Corporates: Refine innovation process when engaging with founders
Government: Simplify impact of regulatory framework towards founders
Founders: Amplify success stories
Public/Private Partnerships: Facilitate data access
Founders: Improve talent attraction strategies
Academia: Integrate practical AI learning and encourage an entrepreneurial & risk-taking mindset
Ecosystem Builders: Establish a single AI hub
Government: Invest in specialised expertise and talent

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Techleap is a non-profit organisation, funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, helping to quantify and accelerate the tech-ecosystem of the Netherlands. Constantijn van Oranje is Special Envoy of Techleap.