The story of Anne Mieke van der Werf

Within Invest-NL, Anne Mieke works as Director of Business Development. “I am responsible for the Business Development team. Our activities mainly involve mapping markets, identifying how value chains can be improved, and creating new collaborations. We support companies by, for example, strengthening their proposition or business model with the aim of accelerating their growth.”

When structuring a business case, Anne Mieke combines energy and climate issues with profit objectives and financing questions. “My belief is that there is always a way to combine these seemingly conflicting elements into a feasible revenue model and thus a fundable case. It’s a puzzle that we as a team want to solve together. Striving for professionalism combined with bringing experience in similar developments makes a difference here.”

Invest-NL is a young, still growing organisation. “We are building a new organisation with a team to meet a major challenge. “The main goal is to connect private parties, the public sector, and the financial sector with three key objectives. First, the transition to carbon neutrality to prevent further global warming. Additionally, the shift to a circular economy where no waste exists and resources are reused continuously. And thirdly, maintaining affordability while improving our healthcare system, which must remain accessible to everyone.”

In Anne Mieke's previous roles, knowledge development, the energy market, and especially the financing question have played key roles. “I have now been working in the clean energy and investment sector for twenty years. In the past, a 1 megawatt project would be celebrated if it was financed with debt. Now, projects of more than 100 megawatts are being developed by the sector and seeking financing. The knowledge that the financial sector has gained from offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar on land can be applied to the next step in the energy transition.”

“In this role, everything comes together, and I want to use my experience, professionalism, and knowledge to connect parties in order to create financeable projects. There is plenty of money; we now really need to accelerate by creating professional, feasible projects and helping companies scale up.”

"In the meantime, a large number of parties have recognised the opportunity to better develop the business case, or revenue model. For this purpose, we are also developing financing instruments to increase investment readiness. Some parties have already been able to submit an application for funding with Invest-NL or have raised more capital with their own shareholders/financiers. This creates stability and space for management teams to focus on the business and the development of new propositions instead of being consumed primarily by fundraising. That is truly something I am proud of."

Invest-NL's proposition is ‘We make financially feasible what seems unfinancierable’. “That is the conviction that truly lives within our organisation. We can do this because we have a large network, possess extensive knowledge, and know exactly how to connect the right parties. We are genuinely a catalyst for what entrepreneurs are already doing. This helps to accelerate major societal transitions.”