The Netherlands could forfeit up to €17 billion in yearly agrifood biotech revenue by 2040 unless regulators, investors, and policymakers act quickly, according to a new analysis from national investment institution Invest-NL. That figure represents money likely to flow toward competing markets if Dutch companies cannot commercialize their technologies fast enough.
The warning lands at a pivotal moment. European rivals are securing capital and scaling production in biological crop protection, precision fermentation, and novel food ingredients, the very sectors where Dutch researchers have built formidable expertise.
The report, *Deep Dive Agrifood Biotech*, draws on interviews with more than 150 entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers, plus investment data spanning 2010 through April 2026. It examines three strategic domains: seed breeding and genetics, biological agricultural inputs, and biotech-derived food ingredients.
The core problem? The Netherlands excels at discovery but stumbles at scale. Dutch entities represent 3.3% of global biotech startups yet only 1.3% of scale-ups, citing data from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. Meanwhile, regulatory bottlenecks and financing gaps keep promising ventures from reaching industrial production.
European approval for a biological crop protection product can consume eight to ten years. Novel food ingredients take one to three years longer to clear regulators in Europe than in the United States. Small wonder some Dutch firms prioritize launches in Brazil or America, where commercialization moves faster.
Under favorable conditions, Invest-NL projects annual Dutch agrifood biotech revenues could hit €25 billion by 2040. Under current policies, that figure sits between €8 billion and €9 billion. Fermentation-derived food ingredients alone could generate €8 billion annually versus €2 billion today.
Recent funding rounds highlight both the opportunity and the gap. Eindhoven’s VitalFluid raised €17.2 million for plasma-activated water technology. Wageningen’s Aardaia secured €5 million for genomics-driven crop breeding. Vivici received €12.5 million from the European Innovation Council for precision-fermented dairy proteins.
As a result, Invest-NL proposes €650 million to €1.1 billion in public financing capacity between 2026 and 2030. Goals for 2030 include doubling agrifood biotech ventures, cutting time-to-market by two-thirds, and nurturing five companies capable of raising over €100 million each.
The race is on, and European competitors show no signs of slowing.
