My two cents on the journey and experience with Invest-NL

I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Invest-NL who invested in our vision, and to Innovation Industries for their continued support and belief.

Over the last days I received quite a number of questions on our experiences with our new investor. Here are my two cents on this journey and experience:

·        Starting something new takes always longer time and more effort than planned and hoped for. And this is what we (together with our colleagues from Invest-NL) experienced. Now looking back, could it have been shorter and leaner and meaner? Sure, we all have lessons to learn by burning our fingers. Looking back is always easier, the important point is do we know how to improve it next time? And let’s not forget: It is the net result that matters most!

·        The Semiconductor Equipment business is high risk, capital intensive and high gain. Not every investor can, dares and knows how to play in this league. What I am personally proud of is that all our investors have this in their DNA. And this is what we have also experienced with Invest-NL so far.

·        The DD was overall constructive, critical, and yes, it took a long time. However, the intention was clear: they needed to understand our company and business in sufficiently detail to be fully committed. And yes, there have been moments that we were wondering if going into so much detail helps or makes a difference. And, though I can say for some parts of it did not make a difference, going through the details made our thinking deeper and sharper as well.

So thank you, from Invest-NL Ruud Zandvliet, Reda Atibi and Frits de Vries and from Innovation Industries Nard Sintenie, Tom van Vuren, and Chris Sonnenberg. And thank you, all my colleagues at Nearfield Instruments, especially Roland van Vliet and Roelof Veldhuizen.