Netherlands · European Union / EEA
Amsterdam for climate-tech expansion
The most frictionless EU landing point for an English-speaking team, with dense energy, mobility and circular-economy demand.
Indicative year one
€278,280
3 people, desks and set-up · €92,760 per person
Cost rank
10 of 14
Lowest first-year cost is rank 1 across the benchmarked corridor cities.
Entity
4 days
Typical incorporation time.
Where Amsterdam is strong
- Near-universal business English and a hiring market used to international teams
- Excellent EU logistics: most of the Rhine corridor within a day
- Deep sustainability procurement appetite in city and national government
What to watch
- Office and housing supply is tight and prices reflect it
- Grid connection queues can delay anything power-hungry
Sector strengths
- Energy
- Mobility
- Circular economy
- Climate software
Setting up: A Dutch BV takes a few days via a notary and is widely accepted by EU buyers and grant programmes.
The numbers, and where they come from
Indicative benchmarks compiled from public sources for comparison. Confirm figures with a local adviser before committing budget.
Cost to operate
Prime office rent
€550
EUR per m² per year
Headline rent for good-quality central space. Fringe and industrial space is cheaper.
Above average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: Commercial property benchmarks (CBRE / JLL market reports)
Coworking desk
€380/mo
EUR per desk per month
What a small landing team actually pays in month one, before signing a lease.
Around average · reference year 2025 · Requires review
Headline corporation tax
25.8%
% of profit
Combined national (and local, where it applies) headline rate. Reliefs are not included.
Below average · reference year 2026 · Verified primary source
Source: National revenue authorities / OECD corporate tax statistics
Employer social charges
20%
% on top of salary
The real cost of a hire is salary plus this. It moves first-year budgets more than rent.
Around average · reference year 2026 · Verified primary source
Source: National social security authorities / OECD Taxing Wages
People
Senior engineer salary
€72,000
EUR per year, gross
Midpoint for an experienced engineer. Cheap talent and deep talent rarely sit together.
Below average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: Salary benchmarks (Eurostat earnings, national tech salary surveys)
Technical talent depth
82/100
index, 0–100
Size of the local engineering and climate-technical workforce you can hire from.
Around average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: Eurostat / national labour statistics on ICT and engineering employment
English working proficiency
97/100
index, 0–100
How easily an English-first team can hire, sell and handle paperwork locally.
Above average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: EF English Proficiency Index
Living
Home rent, one bedroom
€1,900/mo
EUR per month, central
What relocating a founder or first hire actually costs them each month.
Around average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Cost of living
88/100
index, London = 100
Everyday costs excluding rent, indexed against London.
Below average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Quality of life
88/100
index, 0–100
Health, safety, environment, transport and commute — what keeps a team once it is hired.
Above average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: OECD Better Life indicators / Mercer quality-of-living ranking
Capital
Climate-tech VC invested
€700m
EUR millions per year
How much climate money is actually deployed locally, and so how many investor meetings exist.
Below average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Grant and public funding access
90/100
index, 0–100
Breadth of grant routes a company based here can apply to, national and EU or UK level.
Above average · reference year 2026 · Verified secondary source
Source: National innovation agencies, Horizon Europe and Innovate UK programme scope
Climate-tech
Testbeds and industrial demand
84/100
index, 0–100
Places to run a real pilot: test rigs, port and grid infrastructure, industrial buyers.
Above average · reference year 2026 · Requires review
Source: GreenLaunch ecosystem directory (named testbeds, catapults, ports and utilities)
Market access
Population within two hours
30m people
millions of people
How many customers a salesperson can reach and return from in a single day.
Above average · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Public procurement openness
86/100
index, 0–100
How realistically a foreign SME can win public and utility contracts here.
Best in comparison · reference year 2025 · Verified secondary source
Source: EU Single Market Scoreboard / UK Cabinet Office procurement data
Setup
Time to incorporate
4 days
working days
How fast you can have a local entity able to sign contracts and open a bank account.
Above average · reference year 2026 · Verified primary source
Source: National company registries (Companies House, KVK, Bolagsverket and equivalents)
Visa and relocation route
88/100
index, 0–100
How straightforward it is to move a founder or key hire here and keep them.
Best in comparison · reference year 2026 · Verified secondary source
Source: National immigration authorities (skilled-worker and startup visa routes)
Free soft-landing support in Amsterdam
- Invest in Holland (NFIA)
National agency guiding foreign companies through setup, permits and hiring.
- Amsterdam Trade & Innovate
City-level soft landing, workspace and network introductions.
Routes that land in Amsterdam
The order of work for a specific move, with the guides and organisations that matter on each one.
Expanding a UK climate-tech company into the Netherlands
Why the Netherlands is a common first EU market for UK climate-tech companies, and what to line up: entity and VAT, EU funding routes, testbeds and city choice.
Score Amsterdam against your own company
GreenLaunch weights every one of these figures against your sector, stage, customers and priorities, compares up to four cities side by side and produces a shortlist report you can share with your board.