THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said his government was seeking to boost the country's technical startups and lure venture capital, after industry research on Wednesday showed the sector was flagging.

As a leader in chip equipment and home to the world's biggest chip equipment maker ASML, the Netherlands' economy is reliant on related startups for future growth.

But the main organisation devoted to promoting them TechLeap told its annual gathering in The Hague on Wednesday growth was stalling, with fewer small firms winning significant funding.

Schoof told the same event his government intended to cut red tape and invest more heavily in artificial intelligence without giving detail.

"The alarming thought, of course, is that as Europe, we are let down, and we cannot keep up with the United States and China. We have to do something about it," he said.

"We have to make sure that ... we create an environment in which venture capital is going to invest."

Eindhoven, in the southern Netherlands, where ASML is based, and where the technical startups congregate has played a major role in supporting the Dutch economy amid weakness in neighbouring Germany.

TechLeap found venture capital to Dutch firms was a relative bright spot in 2024, increasing 47% to 3.1 billion euros, putting the Netherlands in fourth place in Europe behind Britain, Germany and France, TechLeap said. That compares to $190 billion in the United States according to DealRoom data.

But it also found only 104 new Dutch companies won funding of more than 100,000 euros ($100,000) in 2024, down from 172 in 2023. Most of the money came from foreign investors.

Two Dutch companies reached unicorn status in 2024, meaning a private market valuation of more than a billion euros, hotel software developer Mews and DataSnipper, a firm that uses AI to automate auditing functions.