The coronavirus COVID-19, and the measures taken to restrict the spreading of the coronavirus in the Netherlands, have a huge impact on the Dutch economy, and will no doubt also affect your business. We understand your worries about the rising economic uncertainty that comes with the pandemic and we do our best to support and guide our community as best as we can. Therefore, we hosted a free webinar on April 2 about the Dutch government support for startups affected by the corona crisis. Rutger de Graaf, Advisor residence permit foreign start-ups & foreign investors at Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), hosted the webinar and shares the key measures for entrepreneurs dealing with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis. 

1. Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Sustained Employment

For companies that now have less or no work for its employees due to the coronavirus, you can claim NOW for a substantial compensation. In this way, Dutch companies can continue to pay employees with permanent and temporary contracts. NOW also applies to the personnel costs for whom the employer has no obligation to continue to pay salaries, such as employees with an on-call contract (zero hours contract) or flex contracts. You can claim this compensation from the Dutch government for a period of three months (with the possibility to extend it for a further three months) in case of a decrease in turnover of at least 20% as from the 1st of March 2020 onwards. 

Read more about the conditions and how to apply here. 

2. Compensation for sectors affected by corona measures

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Dutch government has decided to implement a series of unprecedented economic measures. A number of sectors will be hit particularly hard by the health-related measures imposed by the government. For instance, cafes and restaurants will suffer from mandatory closure, and the travel industry will be hit hard by cancellations. To awards these entrepreneurs, the government has set a one-time compensation for SME’s active in the aforementioned sectors.   

Find out if you qualify for the compensation here. 

3. SME credit guarantee scheme (BMKB)

If you have a business in the Netherlands and employ no more than 250 workers (you have an SME), you may be eligible for a guarantee for part of a loan through the SME credit guarantee scheme (BMKB). Businesses can use the BMKB scheme for a bridge loan, or to increase the overdraft limit (how much they are allowed to be ‘in the red’) on their current account. This will enable you to borrow more than would otherwise be possible based on your collateral. Self-employed persons can also make use of the BMKB if they own a legal entity such as a one-man business, General Partnership, or a BV. 

More information can be found here. 

You can watch the complete webinar recording here.

We are certain that we can get through this together if we all help each other out. Therefore, we designed a form to make this easier. If you need assistance from or if you can offer support for the ECE Community, please fill in this form. Let us also know if you have any knowledge or skills that may be useful to startups and entrepreneurs in assistance: ece.typeform.com/to/wc8Bdj