Amsterdam business in September: from breakthrough ideas to global growth
Amsterdam healthtech secures new funding
Some of September’s most promising developments came from Amsterdam’s life sciences and health ecosystem.
Amsterdam-based Phosphoenix raised €1.3 million to accelerate development of a neuroprosthetic system for people with severe blindness. Rather than repairing the eye itself, the company is developing an implant that stimulates part of the brain’s visual pathway. The new funding will support preparations for its first study in humans, planned for 2027.
Healthplus.ai secured new backing this month from BVP and Noso Capital as it scales PERISCOPE, its CE-certified AI platform designed to help surgical teams identify patients at increased risk of postoperative infection. The investment brings its seed round to €3.3 million and will support further European rollout and preparations for expansion into the US.
Amsterdam UMC also launched a €4 million Drug Repurposing Fund to invest in spin-offs developing new uses for existing medicines, helping promising research move beyond the academic stage.
Amsterdam deeptech moves from prototype to market
Amsterdam startup Solaq closed a pre-seed round to develop technology that extracts drinking water directly from the atmosphere. Its system uses a liquid desiccant to capture moisture, allowing it to operate in conditions where conventional condensation-based systems become less effective. The company is already moving into commercial pilots.
Fortaegis, meanwhile, raised $50 million in Series A funding as it takes its secure-computing technology towards commercial production and global deployment. The Amsterdam company embeds security into computing hardware, with potential applications across AI infrastructure, telecommunications, advanced manufacturing and critical systems.
Amsterdam invests in a new circular textile hub
Technology was not the only sector attracting investment in September as Amsterdam has committed more than €900,000 to a new 2,300 m² TextielHub on Donauweg. Here, circular textile businesses will be able to work on reuse, repair, new materials and production from 2027. There is already a substantial industry around it. The Amsterdam region accounts for around a quarter of the Dutch textile sector, representing approximately €4.5 billion in annual turnover.
Amsterdam tech companies scale up
At the larger end of September’s funding news, Amsterdam-headquartered enterprise AI company Wonderful raised $550 million in a Series C round at a $5 billion valuation. The company says it now operates across more than 35 markets and employs around 650 people since its previous funding round in March.
Miro also entered a new phase. The Amsterdam-based collaboration platform signed an agreement to be acquired by Italian technology group Bending Spoons in an all-cash deal worth $1.355 billion, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.
Supporting innovative companies as they grow is a priority for Amsterdam. Speaking at a deeptech event Hello Tomorrow earlier this year, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Melanie van der Horst described Amsterdam as a place where promising startups can“find partners to grow further”.
Amsterdam starts its largest electricity grid expansion
Not all of September’s major investment news involved companies. Liander and TenneT started work on the Nieuwe Hemweg electricity station as part of the largest expansion of Amsterdam’s electricity grid to date. There are currently 399 customers waiting for a new or heavier connection in the area the station will serve, including 308 in Amsterdam. The first phase is expected to become operational around 2030.
The additional capacity matters for businesses ranging from laboratories and advanced manufacturing to electric mobility and data infrastructure. Amsterdam’s electricity demand is expected to be three to four times higher in 2050 than it is today, making grid expansion an increasingly important part of the city’s economic development.
New business and innovation hubs open across Amsterdam
September also brought several new places for businesses, entrepreneurs and investors to meet and work, each new hub with a rather different focus.
Take a look inside Norrsken House Amsterdam, opened in the historic Van Gendt Hallen on Oostenburg, as a new home for the city’s impact-tech community, bringing founders, investors and specialist expertise under one roof.
“We need all of our talent and all of our capital to move towards solving larger global problems,”
Co-founder and managing director Thijs van der Burgt.
Nearby, The Stack opened its doors to Amsterdam’s AI community. The hub is organised around the full AI stack, bringing infrastructure teams, model builders and application companies together with investors, corporate partners and other specialists.
On Piet Heinkade, Epicenter Amsterdam opened a 6,000 m² home for technology companies, scaleups and corporate innovators. The move extends an innovation community already established across Sweden, Norway and Finland, giving its Amsterdam members another route into Nordic business networks.
Looking to grow your business in or from Amsterdam?
Amsterdam Trade & Invest helps international companies explore opportunities in the Amsterdam Area and supports local businesses looking to expand internationally.