Keeping Innovation Local: How Europe Plans to Close Its Tech Funding Gap
Amsterdam, Saturday 29 August 2026
CFA Society Netherlands will host an Amsterdam roundtable in October 2026, exploring how European pension funds can back late-stage startups to prevent them from seeking foreign capital.
Mobilising Institutional Capital for Scale-Ups
The European technology ecosystem has long excelled at nurturing early-stage startups, particularly across high-growth sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech, and cybersecurity [GPT]. However, as these firms mature and require substantial growth capital to scale their software architectures and digitalise legacy industries, they frequently face a critical funding bottleneck [GPT]. To address this persistent late-stage capital gap, CFA Society Netherlands is convening a specialised executive roundtable in Amsterdam on Tuesday, 6 October 2026 [1]. The session aims to explore structural solutions that can successfully mobilise domestic and pan-European institutional capital, such as pension funds and insurance firms, into high-growth technology sectors [1].
Mobilising Institutional Capital for Scale-Ups
Operating in cooperation with global private markets firm StepStone, the forum will take place at the Rosarium in Amsterdam [1]. By bringing together leading institutional investors (limited partners, or LPs), fund managers (general partners, or GPs), and venture capital specialists, the roundtable will dissect the barriers that historically deter European pension allocators from backing late-stage technology assets [1]. Facilitating these discussions are key industry figures, including Tom Fitzherbert-Brockholes, a partner at StepStone Group, who will introduce the current state of the growth equity market, and Diane Griffioen, the Head of Private Equity at PGGM, who will deliver the LP perspective [1].
The Cost of the Late-Stage Funding Deficit
Without sufficient local institutional backing, European scale-ups in the Benelux and wider European regions are routinely forced to look abroad, securing late-stage financing from North American or Asian investors [1]. While this capital enables software scalability and international expansion, it often results in the migration of intellectual property (IP) and economic value out of the European ecosystem [1][GPT]. The challenge is particularly acute for companies driving the digitalisation of legacy industries, where capital-intensive deployments are required to modernise traditional supply chains and financial infrastructures [GPT]. By failing to retain these high-value enterprises, European savers miss out on the long-term financial returns generated by their own region’s technological pioneers [GPT].
The Cost of the Late-Stage Funding Deficit
Conversely, some forward-thinking European institutions are already actively positioning themselves to capture these opportunities. For example, Railpen, a £35 billion UK-based retirement scheme, has consistently targeted the venture capital space with a distinct focus on deep-tech innovations [2]. According to Julia Diez, Railpen’s head of UK productive assets, the pension scheme collaborates with external GPs at the seed stage to foster early-stage innovation [2]. Replicating and scaling this institutional appetite across continental Europe is seen as a vital step toward establishing a self-sustaining funding lifecycle for next-generation tech giants [1][2][GPT].
Unlocking Access via Secondaries and Co-Investments
A central theme of the upcoming Amsterdam roundtable will be the strategic deployment of secondaries and co-investments to broaden institutional access to venture capital [1]. For conservative pension funds, which must manage strict liquidity and risk profiles, direct VC investing can often seem prohibitively risky [GPT]. Secondaries offer a compelling alternative by allowing LPs to acquire existing stakes in mature, de-risked tech portfolios, thereby shortening the time to liquidity and mitigating the ‘J-curve’ effect [GPT]. Co-investment models also allow institutional allocators to partner directly with experienced GPs, reducing fee burdens while building targeted exposure to high-performing SaaS, fintech, or cybersecurity firms [1][GPT].
Unlocking Access via Secondaries and Co-Investments
Ultimately, bridging the capital gap requires a coordinated effort to align the long-term investment horizons of pension funds with the funding requirements of scaling technology companies [1][GPT]. By establishing robust local funding mechanisms, European policymakers and financial institutions can ensure that the intellectual property and economic wealth generated by digital innovation remain firmly anchored within the continent [1]. The discussions scheduled for October 2026 represent a crucial step toward reshaping Europe’s venture ecosystem and securing its digital sovereignty [1].