The growth of 4impact, a new Hague-based fund, is helping the small Dutch metropolis live up to its ‘Impact City’ brand, as locals sing the praises of a hugely mixed city with international ties.

Dutch tech for good startups were promised a €6m boost yesterday, as one of the few social impact funds based in The Hague announced a significant increase thanks to government funding.

The additional capital means 4impact, which invests in Netherlands-based, young tech startups doing good for people or planet, now has €14m available, with the latest top-up coming from a seed fund set up by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.  

The announcement was made at yesterday’s Impact Fest in The Hague, billed Europe’s 'largest impact meetup' – and was celebrated by the event’s organisers as a further signal of the city’s success in attracting both impact ventures and those wanting to back them. 

City authorities and its partners are pushing hard to market The Hague as an ‘ImpactCity’, with funding, physical spaces and competitions designed to attract and nurture social startups.

4impact co-founder Ali Najafbagy highlighted the city’s “massive investment” in technology infrastructure, its ideal size and the fact that living costs are lower than nearby Amsterdam as pull factors for entrepreneurs. The kind of startups his fund will seek – Netherlands-based, but looking to work internationally – will also benefit from the city’s international links: it hosts the International Court of Justice, Europol and the International Criminal Court, and is home to more than 200 international organisations and research institutes, as well as being the seat of the Dutch government.

4impact, which is looking to raise a total of €20m, has already invested in Envision, which uses artificial intelligence to support blind people in 60+ countries; and in Solar Monkey, which leads the Dutch market in B2B software for solar panel fitters.