Venture Challenge Fall Round 2025 now open

NWO has opened the fall round of the Venture Challenge. This program is for entrepreneurial Life Sciences & Health and MedTech researchers. Over a period of eight to ten weeks, they will receive guidance in developing their business plan and setting up their company. For this round, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) has increased the budget, allowing six additional teams with a specific focus on MedTech innovations to participate. This means that a total of twelve teams can participate in this round. For this call, NWO is collaborating with the top sectors Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland) and High Tech Systems and Materials (Holland High Tech).

Objective of the call

With its mission-driven innovation policy, the Dutch government wants to use the innovative power of the top sectors to tackle major societal challenges. In doing so, the Dutch government also aims to strengthen the Netherlands’ competitive position. This can be achieved, for example, by using scientific research to tackle societal issues. However, many scientific discoveries never make it to market. This is due to the fact that researchers often lack the knowledge and experience to make their product market-ready or to set up a commercial organisation.

The Venture Challenge program offers a solution. In the coaching program, researchers work with professionals, such as business coaches and experts, to develop a well thought out business case. This prepares the researchers for a successful start of their business.

Fall round 2025

The fall round of the Venture Challenge is aimed at teams of three or four people who have set up a new startup in the field of Life Sciences & Health or MedTech, or who plan to do so in the near future. The product, process or service must fall within the scope of medical devices or other innovations in these broad domains.

A total of twelve teams can participate, divided into two coaching programs. The first coaching program will take place in October and November 2025. The second program will take place from November 2025 to February 2026.

Registration and deadlines

Teams can register for one of the twelve available spots from May 6, 2025. The deadline for submitting applications is July 1, 2025, before 14:00 CET. In September 2025, NWO will announce which startups have been selected for this fall round of the Venture Challenge.

Click here for more details on the call and submitting your application.

Date: May 12, 2025
Source: NWO