Impact, Publicatie

Impact Agenda 2026-2030 (EN)

Sociale Impact Hotspots

The Dutch landscape of impact entrepreneurs

Analysis

Over 100,000 Dutch companies integrate sustainability into their operations. Roughly 2,800 companies develop social innovations and prioritise a social mission. Approximately 7,600 companies take part in impact-focussed initiatives. In total, over 10,000 companies pursue social impact. 

An overview:

  • 108,000 companies contribute to social impact 
  • 20,000 comanies state that they support the sustainable development goals (SDG’s).
  • 13,700 organisations are active in over 100 impactprograms
  • 2,815 impact first-companies develop social innovations and prioritise a social mission
  • 47,000 companies take part in over 600 programs involving sustainability
  • 13,000 companies innovate in sustainable energy, the circular economy or social impact

More than 5 times the average:

  • share of scale-ups among companies that work on the SDG’s or sustainability
  • average jobs per company among companies that work on social impact, the SDG’s or sustainability

Almost 10 times the average:

  • share of scale-ups among impact first-companies. For more information, read the impact agenda 2030.

The Netherlands is working towards a sustainable economy in various ways. Companies develop solutions in circularity or social impact, support the SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) or develop other sustainability solutions. The government, knowledge institutions and societal organizations support these companies through a number of instruments and initiatives, such as subsidies, startup programs, networks, awards or certifications.

Innovatiespotter maps both companies and the initiatives that support them to assess impact entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. We use machine learning to analyze all Dutch companies for innovation and sustainability and classify them into 11 innovation themes, including social impact. We also map their participation in over 2,000 initiatives. 

This analysis contains 2 parts:

  • Demand, supply and match
  • Dutch hotspots

Together these two parts give a detailed overview of the state of impact entrepreneurship in the Netherlands.

The demand

  • Companies: 
    • How many companies are active in this theme? 
    • Do they participate in the ecosystem?
    • How many companies miss opportunaties?

The supply

  • The innovation ecosystem:
    • What makes up the ecosystem, and what companies does it reach?
    • What relevant companies are being missed?

The match

  • Companies and ecosystem:
    • How well do supply and demand align?
    • Do thematic initiatives in fact reach the innovative companies?

Datasets

To answer these questions, we have created and compared two datasets.

Dataset 1, Companies: Innovatiespotter uses machine learning to classify all Dutch companies based on innovation and sustainability. There are two selections:

  • All Dutch companies (the basis)
  • Innovative social impact companies: companies that develop social innovations and prioritise their social mission over financial goals (impact-first).

Dataset 2, Innovation ecosystem: Innovatiespotter tracks over 2,000 innovation- and sustainabilty ecosystems and matches the participants to individual companies. Two selections are available:

  • The entire innovation ecosystem: over 2,000 initiatives
  • Thematic ecosystem: initiatives that focus primarily on impact

Impact

Social Impact (social innovation) focuses on challenges such as workforce participation, equal opportunities, health and wellbeing. These companies develop innovative products, services or approaches that contribute to an inclusive society.

The demand: impact companies

The analysis identifies 2,815 innovative social impact companies in the Netherlands  (2025):

  • 58% participate in the innovation ecosystem (1,636 companies).
  • 42% have no visible ecosystem participation (1,179 companies).

Companies participating in the ecosystem are 1.5x larger on average:

  • With ecosystem participation: 64 employees
  • Without visible participation: 42 employees

The supply: the social innovation ecosysteem

Of the 2.000 initiatives analysed, 103 are primarily focused on social innovations or societal impact:

  • 42 networks, such as: Future Up, SDG Nederland and Social Enterprise
  • 15 awards, such as Diversiteit in bedrijf en Social Enterprizes award
  • 2 startupprograms Social grow sessions and Green PAC iLab
  • 20 subsidies, such as: Actieplan Laaggeletterdheid/Tel Mee Met Taal and subsidieprogramma fonds bestrijding kinderarbeid.
  • 24 other initiatives, such as: PSO Nederland, UN Global Compact Participant, Rubio Impact Ventures and B-corp Nederland

Together these 103 initiatives reach 7,600 participating companies. On macrolevel this seems relatively low. Moreover, the ecosystem is fragmented: 7,600 participants across 103 initiatives averages 74 participants per initiative.

The match: does the social ecosystem reach their target group?

Around 58% of the 2.815 innovative social impact companies is active in one of the 2,000 initiatives. If we look at just the 103 social initiatives, it is approximately 30%: 847 companies. In addition, social initiatives also reach businesses not classified as prioritising social impact. Companies that work on social innovations and take part in social initiatives, can be seen as frontrunners in social innovation.

The numbers

The table and graph below quantify the reach of these initiatives.

  • The reach of 103 social initiatives,
  • The reach of all 2,000 initiatives among 2,815 innovative social impact companies. 
  • The reach of 103 social initiatives in 2,815 innovative social impact companies
Figuur 3: 1) Het bereik van 103 sociale initiatieven, 2) het bereik van 2.000 initiatieven onder 2.815 innovatieve sociale-impactbedrijven, 3) het bereik van 103 sociale initiatieven onder 2.815 innovatieve sociale-impactbedrijven.

Summary

  • Social impact companies: 2,815
  • Number of social initiatives: 103
  • Reach of the 103 social initiatives across all companies: 7,600
  • Of the 2,815 innovative social impact companies, 1,636 are reached through all 2,000 initiatives (58%)
  • Of the 2,815 innovative social impact companies, 847 are reached through the 103 social initiatives (30%)
  • 1.179 innovative social impact companies (42%) are not active in the innovation ecosystem

Impact hotspots

Entrepreneurship focussed on social impact is growing, with activities ranging from employment reintegration and inclusive employment to poverty reduction, circular production and affordable healthcare. Social impact companies cluster in specific regions, often around active networks, creating regional hotspots where entrepreneurship and collaboration reinforce each other.

The hotspots have been identified based on two factors:

  • The presence of social impact companies
  • The strength of the innovation ecosystem
Social impact hotspots kaart
Donkerrood: gemeenten waar zowel impactbedrijven als ecosystemen sterk vertegenwoordigd zijn. Lichtrood: gemeenten waar één van beide sterk aanwezig is. De genummerde markeringen tonen de top 10 gemeenten voor beide indicatoren.

Clusters are visible throughout the country:

  1. Randstad (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Haarlemmermeer, Zaanstad):
    The strongest concentration; several municipalities rank in the top 10 for both indicators; with initiatives such as:
    • Impact City,
    • Sociale Inkopers Amsterdam and
    • Social Impact Fonds Rotterdam.
  2. Utrecht-regio (Utrecht, Amersfoort): Utrecht ranks in the top 10 for both social impact companies and ecosystems, with initiatives including:
    • Impact 030.
  3. Brabantse stedenrij (Eindhoven, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Breda, Tilburg, Meierijstad), with urban collaboration and regional networks such as:
    • Sterk Brabant
  4. Gelderse corridor (Arnhem, Nijmegen, Ede, Apeldoorn): Arnhem and Nijmegen score high on ecosystems with initiatives such as:
    • De Arnhemse Uitdaging,
    • Impact Oost and
    • Impact 024.
  5. Noord-Nederland (Groningen, Leeuwarden, Assen): Groningen is in the top 10 of both indicators, with networks such as:
    • Impact Noord.
  6. Overijssel / Twente (Enschede, Zwolle, Deventer, Hengelo): Zwolle and Enschede score relatively high, with initiatives such as:
    • Impact Noord en -Oost.
  7. Limburg (Maastricht, Heerlen), smaller but clear clusters such as:
    • Brightlands-initiatives and
    • ROM Limburg.
  8. Flevoland (Almere, Lelystad) Supported by for example:
    • Horizon Flevoland

Impact companies

In the Netherlands, around 2,800 impact companies are active. The municipalities with the highest number of impact companies are:

  1. Amsterdam
  2. Rotterdam
  3. Groningen
  4. Utrecht
  5. Den Haag
  6. Eindhoven
  7. Emmen
  8. Leeuwarden
  9. Zwolle
  10. Enschede

Impact programs and networks

In addition to companies, participation in impact programmes and networks plays a key role. 103 social-impact initiatives have been identified, involving over 7,600 participating companies. These include both national organisations such as Future Up, SDG Nederland, UN Global Compact, Social Enterprise NL and PSO, as well as regional initiatives.

The municipalities with the highest number of companies participating in social impact programs are:

  1. Amsterdam, strong representation in national programmes, including
    many B Corps
  2. Rotterdam, with initiatives such as:
    • de Impactkaart Rijnmond
    • de 010 Inclusie Award
  3. Utrecht, with Utrecht Impact 030
  4. The Hague, with:
    • UN Global Compact
    • de Social Club Den Haag
  5. Eindhoven, mostly national programmes, such as PSO
  6. Arnhem, with:
    • De Arnhemse Uitdaging
    • AKSI Sociaal Inkopen
  7. Nijmegen, with initiatives such as:
    • Impact 024
    • het Inclusief Ondernemersnetwerk
  8. Amersfoort, with Impact033
  9. Groningen, with:
    • Impact Noord
    • het Platform Goed Inkopen
  10. Zwolle, with mostly national networks

Regions with both social impact companies and active ecosystems offer opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration and scaling up. These hotspots are relevant for organisations seeking to invest in social impact, find partners or support regional development