SME Call Labour-Saving Technology Track

The Dutch healthcare system is under increasing pressure due to rising demand for care, population ageing and persistent workforce shortages, creating a growing need for medical technologies that improve the efficiency of care processes and reduce labour requirements.

To promote collaboration in this area, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) initiated the MedTech Breakthrough Pilot. Within this pilot, VWS, Health Holland, ZonMw, NWO, Regieorgaan SIA, RVO and Holland High Tech are working together on a coordinated set of instruments designed to accelerate the development, validation and implementation of labour-saving medical technologies.

One of these instruments is the Labour-Saving Technology Track within Health Holland’s PPP SME Call 2027. This thematic track promotes public-private collaboration between SMEs, research organisations and healthcare organisations to further develop innovative medical technologies with demonstrable potential to reduce labour requirements in the Dutch healthcare system. For this track, Health Holland and the Ministry of VWS are jointly making €4.5 million in PPP funding available.

Why participate in this call?

The Labour-Saving Technology Track within the SME Call enables consortia to take the next step in the development and validation of innovative LSH products and services that address a specific challenge in healthcare. A key requirement is that the innovation demonstrably contributes to a net reduction in labour requirements within the care process, with a focus on one of the following three themes:

• AI- and data-supported triage and diagnostics
• Smart alerting, remote monitoring and digital care interaction
• Technological support for healthcare processes

With substantial PPP funding, Dutch companies and research organisations can jointly carry out R&D activities to accelerate the development of these promising innovations in the Netherlands.

Who should apply?

The SME Call is aimed at consortia comprising at least one Dutch for-profit company and one Dutch research organisation. The lead applicant must be a company established in the Netherlands.

Within this thematic track on labour-saving technology, healthcare organisations are strongly encouraged to participate in the public-private partnership, ensuring that development and validation activities are closely aligned with the needs and realities of healthcare practice.

How much PPP Subsidy is available per consortium?  

Each project may apply for between €225,000 and €450,000 in PPP funding. Both companies and research organisations may be eligible for this funding, subject to the applicable financial conditions. Cofinancing by the consortium partners is required.

Key eligibility requirements:  

• The consortium must consist of at least one for-profit company and one research organisation.
• The lead applicant must be a for-profit company established in the Netherlands.
• Dutch SMEs wishing to use PPP funding must declare, at the full application stage, that they do not qualify as an “Undertaking in Difficulty”.
• Use of the mandatory consortium agreement template is required. Only minimal amendments to this template are permitted. Consortium partners must be fully aware of the applicable provisions of the agreement, particularly those relating to intellectual property.
• The project may have a minimum duration of one year and a maximum duration of two years.
• The project must comprise industrial research and/or experimental development activities (TRL 4–7).
• Dutch SMEs may apply for a maximum of €150,000 in PPP funding per project year.
• Dutch research organisations may apply for a maximum of €150,000 in PPP funding per project.
• Organisations involved in validation activities within a healthcare setting, such as hospitals or other healthcare organisations, are strongly encouraged to participate in these public-private partnership projects. The costs associated with the involvement of such organisations may be included in the project budget and may collectively account for no more than 25% of the total project budget.

Application procedure and deadlines:

Full application deadline: 20 November 2026, 17:00 CET

All required documents can be found below.

Read the full subsidy call
The complete call description, including all details, can be found below. For any further questions, please reach out to tki@health-holland.com.