ROM InWest
ROM InWest is the government-backed regional development fund for North Holland, the Dutch region around Amsterdam. It backs startups and smaller companies driving the energy, food and circular-economy transitions, with water a narrow slice. As of 2026 ROM InWest runs two funds: a 60 million euro SME (small business) fund and a transition fund targeting 100 million euros.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
ROM InWest is one of the youngest of the Netherlands' regional development companies, set up in 2021 to give North Holland, the province wrapped around Amsterdam, its own public investment arm. This is government money with a mandate, not a private fund chasing returns: the province and the Dutch state stand behind it, and every cheque has to push the region's economy and its green transitions forward.
ROM InWest invests through two funds that tell you what it cares about: a 60 million euro fund for innovative small and mid-sized companies, and a transition fund targeting 100 million euros aimed squarely at the energy, food and circular-economy shifts. Water is not a named theme; it falls out of that food and circular mandate rather than sitting at the centre, which is why ROM InWest's water footprint is real but thin.
ROM InWest's clearest water bet is Agurotech, an Amsterdam precision-agriculture startup whose soil-moisture sensors and weather stations help farmers irrigate with data instead of guesswork. ROM InWest backed it from the transition fund alongside Navus Ventures and Rabo Ventures, and in the Leviathan database that single company, supported across two rounds, is the fund's whole water portfolio.
ROM InWest reads, for a newcomer, as a generalist regional fund with a water-curious edge rather than a water specialist. That edge has a human source: chief executive Janet Nieboer worked at the conservation group Wetlands International before taking the fund's helm, and she is the name on ROM InWest's public statement backing Agurotech. The open question is whether its transition fund turns that one bet into a pattern.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 1 water companies
Frequently asked
- What does ROM InWest invest in?
- ROM InWest backs startups and small and mid-sized companies in North Holland that advance the energy, food and circular-economy transitions. It invests through a 60 million euro SME fund and a transition fund targeting 100 million euros, spanning sectors from high-tech and agrifood to life sciences and water.
- Is ROM InWest a water investor?
- ROM InWest is a generalist regional fund, not a water specialist. Water sits inside its broader food and circular-economy mandate. In the Leviathan database its water portfolio is a single company, the precision-agriculture sensor startup Agurotech, which helps farmers use irrigation water more efficiently.
- Who runs ROM InWest?
- ROM InWest is led by chief executive Janet Nieboer, its statutory director since 2022, with Leendert van Waart heading the investing practice and Kostas Mamalingkas leading the investment team. The fund is owned by the province of North Holland and the Dutch national government.
- Where is ROM InWest based?
- ROM InWest is based in Haarlem, in the Dutch province of North Holland, and invests only in companies in that region, which includes Amsterdam. It was set up in 2021 as North Holland's regional development company, the public agency tasked with strengthening the province's economy.
- What does ROM InWest mean, and is it like other Dutch ROMs?
- ROM stands for Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij, or regional development company. ROM InWest is North Holland's, one of several such public investment agencies across the Netherlands alongside InnovationQuarter and BOM. The InWest name marks its focus on the country's western, Amsterdam-centred region.