Ten years of UNIIQ: a decade of early-stage innovation financing

Specialist in early-stage financing announces its 100th investment 

UNIIQ is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and marks the occasion with its 100th investment. Over the past decade, UNIIQ has grown into the leading specialist in early-stage financing in Zuid-Holland and the Netherlands, investing in startups operating in the most high-risk phase of their development: from idea to first market application. With more than 100 investments and over 1,500 jobs created, UNIIQ underscores the importance of early engagement and a successful pathway towards follow-on funding. 

A trusted player in early-stage financing

This focus on the earliest stages translates into demonstrable results. Every euro invested by UNIIQ now generates more than €13 in follow-on investments. In total, UNIIQ-backed companies have raised over €328 million in subsequent funding. Moreover, around 80% of these companies succeed in securing a follow-on funding round within three years and continue to grow successfully. UNIIQ primarily targets research-driven startups with complex technologies, often originating from knowledge institutions and active in sectors such as life sciences, deep tech and high-tech industry. The fund succeeds in linking technological innovation with societal relevance and commercial viability, making UNIIQ a key player in the early stages of innovation in the Netherlands. 

Without UNIIQ, no substance to build on

In the early phase, young founding teams face fundamental decisions around team composition, organisational structure, financing and strategic focus. It is precisely at this stage that UNIIQ is actively involved. The fund supports founders throughout their growth journey through intensive coaching, consultation sessions and substantive guidance. From sharpening the value proposition to building a fundable and scalable business narrative. After a decade of pioneering, UNIIQ emphasises that investing entails more than capital alone: it contributes to systematically strengthening the organisational foundations of young companies. This commitment requires time and resources, but has resulted in a portfolio in which several companies, with UNIIQ as an early partner, have successfully grown and scaled. 

Successful companies at a glance

For example, the Leiden-based medtech company VarmX is developing a promising treatment for patients who use blood thinners and has now entered a Phase 3 clinical trial, funded by CSL, a development through which UNIIQ has contributed to high-quality healthcare from the very outset. In the maritime sector, Smart-Ship contributes to safer and more efficient navigation through haptic technology, which is now being rolled out on dozens of vessels worldwide. UNIIQ is also active within the quantum ecosystem: QuantWare, based in Delft, received an early UNIIQ investment in 2021 and is now developing quantum chip technology that is being applied globally in quantum computers. 

Where knowledge and market come together

A distinguishing element of UNIIQ’s approach is the deployment of deep technical and market expertise. By working with specialised experts from knowledge institutions and the market, scientific knowledge is actively unlocked and translated into applicable innovations. This integrated approach, in which knowledge institutions and market parties operate not alongside each other, but together, increases the likelihood that complex technologies truly find their way into practice. 

“UNIIQ works with deep technical expertise from both knowledge institutions and the market. These specialists help to actively translate scientific knowledge into applicable innovations, ensuring that valuable insights truly find their way into businesses and society. It is precisely this integrated collaboration that makes UNIIQ effective at the early stage.”
— Rob Overdijk, Director, Erasmus MC Holding 

Regional anchoring and future

With its focus on the early stage, UNIIQ plays a structural role in strengthening the innovation capacity and economic earning power of Zuid-Holland and the Netherlands as a whole. By supporting innovative companies precisely at their most vulnerable stage, the fund contributes to knowledge valorisation, economic renewal and increasing the number of startups that successfully grow into scale-ups. 

“UNIIQ is the specialist in early-stage financing in the Netherlands. We understand the challenges founding teams face at this stage and what is needed to grow successfully. It starts with simplicity: a clear structure, a transparent cap table and the right team at the right moment. At this early stage, such choices truly make the difference.”
— Jasper Geselschap, Fund Manager, UNIIQ

This role is also clearly recognised at the regional level. By connecting public and private parties around early innovation, UNIIQ functions as a stable link within a constantly evolving administrative and economic landscape. 

“Ten years of UNIIQ demonstrate how important it is to build the foundations of strong enterprises. By investing in high-quality startups, the fund consciously takes risk while at the same time strengthening the future earning power of Zuid-Holland and underlining the strength of our province as an innovative region.”
— Meindert Stolk, Provincial Executive for Economy and Innovation, Province of Zuid-Holland

100th investment: Bactheravax

During Sectoren in Beeld, the annual event at which InnovationQuarter presents the Zuid-Holland sector plans, UNIIQ announces its 100th investment: a participation in Bactheravax. The company is developing an innovative vaccine concept aimed at improving the treatment of colorectal cancer, a disease with major societal impact and persistently high mortality rates. The choice for Bactheravax reflects the core mission of the fund: enabling research-driven solutions to complex societal challenges, precisely at the stage before market parties step in.

About UNIIQ

UNIIQ is a €50 million proof-of-concept fund that supports entrepreneurs in Zuid-Holland in bringing unique innovations to market. The fund provides academic spin-offs and innovative startups with seed capital and coaching to realise their plans and to bridge the most high-risk phase from concept to promising company. More than 80% of UNIIQ-backed startups have already attracted follow-on funding, together exceeding €325 million. 

UNIIQ is made possible by Erasmus MC, TU Delft, Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, InnovationQuarter, the European Union, the Province of Zuid-Holland, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), TNO, and the municipalities of Rotterdam, The Hague and Leiden. InnovationQuarter acts as the fund manager for UNIIQ. 

Funding and support

UNIIQ is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (EFRO) and by early-stage financing (VFF) from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, in cooperation with the Province of Zuid-Holland and the participating knowledge institutions.