Frequently asked questions

NADI stands for the National Agency for Disruptive Innovation. An independent agency designed to catalyse breakthrough innovation in areas of significant societal and economic importance, by absorbing the financial risk that the market is unwilling to bear.

The Netherlands is a leading country scientifically, but there is a gap between research and the market: research funding is not aimed at multi-year research carrying high technological risk, and for investors that stage is still too uncertain.

Promising knowledge is left unused while major challenges remain unsolved, for example in security, energy, health and the economy. NADI is being established to bridge that gap and set innovative breakthroughs in motion.

NADI's model will be based on DARPA (United States), SPRIND (Germany) and ARIA (United Kingdom). NADI formulates programmes around major societal or strategic questions and challenges researchers and companies to develop groundbreaking solutions.

Read more about the intended approach in the design proposal by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (January 2026).

The Netherlands is a leading country scientifically, but relatively little of that knowledge translates into large-scale societal and economic impact compared with the countries around us. Promising inventions in science and in business do not find their way to the market, because they are still too risky for investors. NADI is being set up to fill that gap.

The current Dutch innovation system is also characterised by consensus-building. That tends to produce incremental improvements to existing processes and products rather than entirely new ways of working. With an approach that gives a great deal of autonomy to independent programme managers, NADI aims to change this.

NADI funds the most uncertain phase: the one existing subsidies are not suited to, and where investors still see too much risk. Teams that show the science works then become interesting to private venture capital, or to public venture investors such as Invest-NL and the regional development agencies.

NADI works in a fundamentally different way: one decision-maker per programme, no committees, tight timelines. The model has been proven by DARPA, ARIA and SPRIND, precisely because it does not work like an ordinary government department. It differs materially from existing public bodies that also deal with innovation, because it concentrates on the most risky phase of technical innovation.

NADI will be a highly entrepreneurial R&D funder. It funds R&D through pre-commercial procurement (PCP), buying R&D services and prototypes before they are on the market. NADI therefore does not provide subsidies. The research is carried out by R&D teams at research organisations and companies; NADI does not do research itself.

NADI is not a formal entity yet. Over the coming period the organisation will be formally established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

NADI's first programme will launch in the autumn of 2026, together with its German counterpart SPRIND. Follow NADI on LinkedIn to stay informed.

Not yet. NADI is still being established. Over the coming months the organisation will take shape and the first programmes will be prepared. Stay informed about developments by following NADI on LinkedIn.

Jelle Prins has been appointed as the figurehead of the organisation for the build-up phase. He is the face of NADI, involves stakeholders in building the organisation and will put forward a proposal for the strategy. He does so together with Beau-Anne Chilla, whom he asked to join as co-founder.

Thank you for your interest. There are no vacancies open at the moment. Follow NADI on LinkedIn to hear about future roles.

Anyone: individual scientists, startups, established companies, universities, knowledge institutions. NADI funds several routes in parallel. Which approach will win is unknown in advance, so broad participation is essential if NADI is to succeed.