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Member Spotlight: De Breed & Partners

De Breed & Partners helps innovative companies apply for and optimize subsidies, credits and obtain tax benefits (wage and income tax). They are consultants for finance and subsidies. We interviewed Mark van Tol and Raf Grubben, consultants at De Breed & Partners, to find out more.

How does De Breed & Partners fit into the Dutch fintech ecosystem?

De Breed & Partners helps technology companies understand the funding puzzle: crowdfunding, equity, subsidies, grants, tax incentives. Revolutionary fintech innovations cannot be invented without funding. Unfortunately, companies often lack the expertise necessary for successful funding applications. 

De Breed & Partners seeks to support the entrepreneurs of today and of the future. In addition to subsidy applications, they offer active leadership in the managing of the most important forms of capital investment; personnel costs. They help solve the funding puzzle between equity, loans, subsidies and government grants for a solid base of finance for your company. 

Who?

De Breed & Partners has a database of a few thousand clients, mostly SMEs, start-ups and freelancers. They stress, ‘whatever growth phase you are in, together we find the right tools to make innovation and growth possible.’

The core customers of De Breed & Partners are technology innovators. The industry trends towards software development due to lower capital requirements. 

Over the last fifteen years, De Breed & Partners has submitted over 15,000 applications with a 99% success rate for more than 2,000 clients. The total subsidy sum exceeds € 300 million. They have just opened their Antwerp office

If a Holland FinTech member was to approach you for help regarding financing, what would be the process?  

“We typically have innovative companies approaching us. Then we solve their financing puzzle with a combination of equity from investors, bank credit, and crowdfunding. We assess what financing best suits their business and file the appropriate applications. We have ongoing customer relationships as some funding requires yearly applications and financing needs are subject to change.”

De Breed & Partners is most active in WBSO applications. The WBSO is a wage subsidy for the salaries of developers from the Dutch government to promote R&D.

The RVO does not provide much help for funding applications. SMEs of struggle to write applications with more than a 10% success rate. This is where De Breed & Partners enters the ecosystem. They enable innovative companies to access the pot of money over the rainbow.

Which subsidies or funding applications?

Two of the most important financing opportunities with De Breed & Partners are the WBSO and the MIT.

  • The WBSO is a wage subsidy from the Dutch government.
  • The MIT is a Dutch subsidy with feasibility requirement. Applications for MIT funding will open on April 17. It is necessary to have applications in by this date as it is ‘first in, first served.’ Companies are eligible for up to 25,000 EUR. To be ready on time, contact De Breed & Partners ASAP.
  • The Innovation box is a tax instrument which allows profit directly linked to innovation to be taxed at 7% instead of the usual 20% or even 25%. De Breed has a wealth of experience in applying for the innovation box.

Industry insights and predictions

Having a client base of innovative technology companies, De Breed & Partners can really keep up to date with industry trends. They see AI, ML, algorithms, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, blockchain and drones as big themes.

But we’ve heard all these buzzwords before. Raf Grubben, a consultant at De Breed & Partners says ‘the next step is quantum computing. Once that is mainstream it will change everything again.’ 

Another significant industry trend according to Grubben is the open API and data revolution which means that fintechs can take market share from banks. Additionally, a challenge perceived in the current market is a shortage of software developers and technical personnel. This slows development.

In the landscape of financial services, there is a changing concept of business. Advertising, media and PR companies are increasingly becoming tech companies, e.g., blendle. While thinking about how everything is becoming ‘tech,’ Mark van Tol suggested that De Breed & Partners works in ‘fundtech.’

By Grace Appleford, Research Analyst.

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