Top 250
The 2025 edition of the Top 250 Insights Report highlights the fastest-growing and most innovative companies in the Netherlands. This year’s cohort is older and more mature than ever (average age 33.4 years), with hypergrowth accelerating (34%) and over 179,000 jobs created since 2021. Growth is decentralising beyond the Randstad, while sustainability, AI adoption and gender diversity remain key themes shaping the future of Dutch high-growth firms.
Ready to join the Top 250 hall of fame?
Does your company deserve to be amongst the Top 250 fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands? Sign up now for the 2026 edition and we will keep you posted!
What is the Top 250?
The Top 250 highlights the 250 most innovative and fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands and are selected on weighting of absolute (in number) and relative growth (in percentage) of revenue and/or FTEs between 2022 and 2025 (OECD, 2016).
Key Takeaways
The Top 250 Engine of Job Creation
The 2025 cohort of the Top 250 has created over 179,000 jobs in the Netherlands during the past three years. With average firm size increasing from 974 FTEs in 2023 to 1,205 in 2024, these high-growth firms are not only expanding rapidly but also generating employment at an unprecedented scale.
Mature firms increasingly sustain growth
This year’s Top 250 list features the most mature cohort to date, with an average age of 33.4 years. The stereotype of the “young scaler” is shifting, as established firms now drive hypergrowth and resilience across the Dutch high-growth landscape.
More women in leadership, but gaps remain
This year, 28% of the Top 250 companies have at least one woman founder or C-level leader, a slight decline from 2024. Broader leadership shows improvement, with 41.6% of firms including at least one woman in their top management team.
Sustainable rapid growth in the Netherlands increasingly comes from more mature, well-organized firms. This is not about the youngest ‘rocket ships’ sprinting ahead for a season; it is about companies that have built, tested, and refined how they work, so they can keep time with demand. If you want to appear in the Top 250, and keep appearing, the work is not to chase spikes but to build an operating system that can absorb rapid growth without losing its beat.
Our Approach
Top 250 in the Netherlands is an annual research publication by Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. The research and annual event are supported by nlgroeit, Municipality of Rotterdam, Gain.pro, Dealroom, HelloPrint, SAU, Van Lanschot Kempen, Rabobank, Erasmus Enterprise and Team Rockstars. This report provides up-to-date insights into the Top 250 fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands. The list differentiates itself from other lists through its focus on both absolute and relative (in percentage) growth of companies that already have 10 FTEs at the start of the measurement period.
Looking to scale your company?
Strategic Foresight and Futures Thinking empowers companies to respond to uncertainties, improve innovation capacity and futureproof their strategy. These interactive sessions take the example use of Strategic Foresight by global organisations such as the World Economic Forum and apply it to SMEs.
Tailor-made scaleup training with our senior facilitators Prof. dr. Justin Jansen and Prof.dr. Tom Mom. Justin Jansen is a Professor of Corporate Entrepreneurship at RSM, renowned for his groundbreaking insights into scaling businesses, leadership excellence, and the organizational strategies that drive enduring success. Tom Mom is a Professor at the Department of Strategy & Entrepreneurship of RSM and the academic director of RSM's Executive MBA. Acclaimed for his research on the strategic renewal and growth of organizations, and strategy implementation, Prof.dr. Mom facilitates training for entrepreneurs, managers and policy-makers.
For Dutch-speaking teams, we invite you to have a look at Groiecollege, a programme in partnership with NLgroeit based on insights from our scaleup research.
