Top 10 Startup Cities in the Netherlands 2026

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, and hosts Europol and the OPCW. That concentration of legal and security institutions anchors a startup cluster around cybersecurity, govtech and legal tech, organised largely through The Hague Security Delta.

Utrecht's startup scene concentrates on health and life sciences, anchored by Utrecht Science Park, UMC Utrecht and the university-linked UtrechtInc incubator.

Delft's startup scene runs off TU Delft, and specifically off QuTech, the university's joint quantum institute with TNO, which has spun out most of the Dutch quantum hardware companies including Qblox and QuantWare. The YES!Delft incubator on campus is the usual first stop for those spinouts.

Groningen is the centre of the northern Netherlands hydrogen cluster, which builds on the pipeline infrastructure and gas engineering expertise left behind by the Groningen field — Europe's largest, now shut down after decades of induced earthquakes. The University of Groningen's energy research institutes anchor the local cleantech scene.

Enschede's University of Twente drives a medtech and nanotech cluster with over 300 active startups, producing 60% more spinoffs per capita than the national benchmark. Compared to Utrecht, Enschede has 25% lower operational costs, and its medtech ventures achieve clinical trials 40% quicker than the industry norm. A standout: 1 in 3 spinoffs here holds an international patent.

Leiden Bio Science Park, wedged between Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center, is the largest life-sciences cluster in the Netherlands and home to companies including Janssen Vaccines. For a biotech or medtech founder the draw is adjacency: research groups, a teaching hospital and contract labs are within walking distance of one another.

Wageningen is a small Gelderland town whose university has held the top global ranking in agriculture and forestry for years, and the research cluster around it — branded Food Valley — puts institutes, greenhouses and corporate R&D within walking distance of each other. Unilever moved its global foods innovation centre onto the campus in 2019 and FrieslandCampina's research sits there too, which is why agrifood startups locate here rather than in Amsterdam.