Evaluation of boosters for ambitious entrepreneurship

In the boosting of ambitious entrepreneurship in the Netherlands, StartupDelta and its successor Techleap have played key roles in the past ten years. What did they achieve, and how effective and efficient were they? Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, researchers from Birch and the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) have made an analysis of this. They state there is still a need for an external booster, but we should look critically at what form this could take. The researchers also speak out in favour of an approach to entrepreneurship focused on societal challenges.

StartupDelta (2015-2019) and its successor Techleap.nl (2019-present) both set the goal to improve the Dutch startup and scale-up ecosystems effectively and efficiently (functionally). For the report Evaluatie StartupDelta en Techleap. Resultaten van externe aanjagers voor startup en scale-up beleid in de periode 2015-2022 (Evaluation StartupDelta and Techleap. Results of external drivers for startup and scaleup policy in the period 2015-2022), Birch and Utrecht University investigated to which degree this was the case, which elements in the ecosystem deserve attention in the future and what role an external booster organisation can play in this.

Ecosystem better charted and put on the map

StartupDelta and Techleap have initiated a large quantity of activities in order to improve parts of the ecosystems and specific enterprises. It turned out that it was not possible to quantify the direct impacts of StartupDelta and Techleap (effectiveness).

Much innovation and many entrepreneurship policies can barely be evaluated quantitatively when it comes to effectiveness and efficiency, says Erik Stam, one of the project leaders of the evaluation. That is a bit sour but more the rule than the exception, unfortunately.

The researchers did succeed in determining what the outputs and outcomes were, and observed that StartupDelta and Techleap charted the ecosystem better and put it on the map better, and that they succeeded in reaching out to a large number of entrepreneurs of startups and scale-ups.

Compared to the publicly funded ecosystem-booster organisations abroad, StartupDelta was extraordinarily efficient in a short amount of time. Techleap, with much more means and under restricting circumstances (Corona pandemic), to a lesser degree. The tripling of the Techleap budget (compared to StartupDelta) is in part translated into the knowledge and booster functions, and mostly in the programmes with individual companies (with a more founder-centric approach).

The programmes were effective in selecting and supervising startups and scale-ups with growth potential; the experiences of the participants in the first programmes show that they have realised this growth in reality. However, the intended result – to improve the policy and support for startups and scale-ups in the Netherlands on a systematic level – has yet to manifest.

We are both positive and negative on this founder-centric approach, Stam says. It is very good that entrepreneurs are involved in policy making, because they are the users of the ecosystem and the people with entrepreneurial experience. Together with them, you can implement improvements in the ecosystem. Supporting individual entrepreneurs is better left to parties from the market or society (especially entrepreneurs and former entrepreneurs).

International comparison

The researchers compared StartupDelta and Techleap to similar organisations in other countries, and to related policy programmes/organisations in the Netherlands. Based on this, they assessed that the size of StartupDelta is relatively small and that the size of Techleap is relatively big, compared to similar organisations in benchmark countries.

I think it is much more obvious to look at Sweden than at Silicon Valley

Erik Stam says: Techleap is an entrepreneurial ecosystem catalyst organisation. Almost all countries in Europe have such organisations, sometimes even multiple. So it seems logical that we have them in the Netherlands too. What kind of tasks such an organisation takes on also depends on what others do. In Sweden, there are both public and private organisations who take on this role. Like Norrsken, a private initiative focused on impact unicorns with positive, societal impact. By the way, Sweden is not that different from the Netherlands. I therefore think it is much more obvious to look at Sweden than at Silicon Valley (for instance, see Why does Sweden have so many Startups?). It is much more inclusive than the American model.

Developments in the future

In the period 2015-2022, the Dutch ecosystem for entrepreneurship changed substantially, but improving the ecosystem is never finished, the researchers write. Leadership, community building and better data (for diagnosis and dialogue, monitoring and evaluation) deserve attention. This applies as long as this is not yet in order (data infrastructure) or has not (yet) been taken over by private parties (leadership, community support).

A more data-driven and dialogue-driven ecosystem policy

Considering the possible synergy between the data infrastructure and the leadership role, it is desirable to combine these into one organisation. This way, weaknesses in the ecosystem can be put on the agenda and addressed, and an overview of relevant public and private players and their policies can be maintained (directing role). All in all, the permanent effective and efficient enhancing of the Dutch startup and scale-up ecosystem requires a more data-driven and dialogue-driven ecosystem policy.

The fact that Techleap and many investors are focused on deep tech is possibly because they expect big returns from it in the distant future, Stam says. And universities think this is important because they are involved in it. So their interests are driving this. In the report we especially point that solving societal challenges is important. It is important to everyone but there is not really a lobby to put effort into it. If resources are scarce and you want to prioritise, look at which forms of entrepreneurship are suitable for that. That is what we speak out for.

More and more parties which boost the ecosystem have come about, such as Invest-NL and the national network of Dutch Regional Development Agencies, and more experience in boosting ecosystems has been accumulated. The big number of organisations requires coordination that does not come about on its own. On top of that, there are also new high-opportunity fields or societal challenges in which coordination and a booster function remain important.

There is still a need to put startup systems and scale-up systems on the map. To look where it does work and where it does not. But of a number of activities which are very focused on individual entrepreneurs, you can wonder whether or not these really have to be carried out by an organisation such as Techleap, Stam says.

An external booster remains important

In short: there is still an important role for an external booster organisation to put improvement of the ecosystem on the agenda, to prioritise, to get them started, to implement and monitor them, and to evaluate them. The voices of startups and scale-ups are insufficiently represented in the policy debate without Techleap.

For the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, an external booster organisation is an effective and efficient form to implement policy. An external booster is more agile and can – as long as it is not too big – make an appeal to support outside the government more easily.

Research team

The research team from Birch and Utrecht University consisted of: Jan Peter van den Toren, Erik Stam, Bas van der Starre, Mirella Schrijvers, Tom Hendricksen, Carlijne Vos en Bram Schoenmakers.

More information and full report

If you would like to know more about this research project, please contact Erik Stam: e.stam@uu.nl

Dowload the full report Evaluatie StartupDelta en Techleap. Resultaten van externe aanjagers voor startup en scale-up beleid in de periode 2015-2022 (in Dutch) or go to the website of the House of Parliament.