The pension fund dinner traditionally marks the closing of LEVEL UP, the international meeting place for start-ups, scale-ups, investors, and ecosystem partners with a clear mission: to accelerate start-ups and scale-ups. Leading speakers such as Lex Hoefsloot (Lightyear), Eline van Beest (Hybradize Therapeutics), and Jelle Prins (Cradle) delivered an inspiring line-up on Monday at the Evoluon in Eindhoven. This year, the event attracted around 1,550 visitors from across Europe, making it larger than last year. LEVEL UP was organized for the fourth time, with the Brabant Development Agency (BOM) as co-host.
The pension fund dinner is an initiative of pension fund PME, Invest-NL, and BOM, aimed at mobilizing more growth capital for innovative deeptech companies. Regional development agencies in the Netherlands estimate that around €8 billion (4 billion in North-Brabant) will be needed in the coming years for early-stage financing and have committed to playing their part in the capital chain.
The pension funds present at the dinner represent approximately 70% of the total Dutch pension capital, which amounts to €1,800 billion.
Currently, pension funds mainly invest in American funds that in turn invest in the U.S. economy. One of the goals of this fund-in-fund is to keep that capital in the Netherlands. A fund-in-fund is an investment fund that itself invests in multiple other funds, rather than directly in companies. This increases diversification and facilitates access to specialized funds.
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Yesterday, Rinke Zonneveld, CEO of Invest-NL, announced that the initiative presented last year is now expected to open in Q2 of 2026. “Over the past period, we’ve had extensive discussions with pension funds. These constructive conversations have led to a solid foundation and broad support. In the coming months, we will work with partners to further launch the initiative in Q2 2026,” said Zonneveld.
Brigit van Dijk - van de Reijt, CEO of BOM, confirmed this growing interest: “We see pension funds becoming increasingly active. As co-investors, they are playing a more prominent role in both direct and fund-in-fund investments. It’s encouraging that this new structure from Invest-NL also opens the door for smaller pension funds to benefit from the growth potential of innovative companies.”
Invest-NL’s fund-in-fund initiative aims to mobilize more than €600 million. This capital will be used to help scale-ups—successful start-ups entering their next growth phase—develop into fully-fledged companies in the coming years. Invest-NL also intends to contribute significantly to the fund.
According to Eric Uijen, Chair of PME: “This initiative aligns with our ambition to increase pension fund investments in high-potential Dutch scale-ups. PME has been investing in innovative start-ups and scale-ups for years. In doing so, we not only contribute to returns for our participants but also to employment, technological progress, and a strong Dutch economy. We have built up a wealth of knowledge and are happy to share it.”