Mr Marius Prins

Marius Prins is a veteran Dutch regional-investment executive who spent most of his career at PPM Oost (Participatiemaatschappij Oost Nederland N.V.), a publicly backed investment company funded by the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, the Dutch state and the University of Twente to strengthen the economy of the eastern Netherlands. He led PPM Oost for well over a decade as its CEO/director, investing public money alongside private parties in regional startups and SMEs.

When PPM Oost merged into the new regional development company Oost NL (formed in 2017), Prins became its general director/CEO — a role he had held since late 2016. As head of Oost NL he was responsible for managing roughly €500 million in funds and driving economic development across the eastern region. He announced that he would step down as Oost NL's general director in mid-2020.

His broader experience spans regional development companies (ROMs) and venture capital. He has been associated with Fidimec N.V., the venture-capital fund of imec in Leuven, and with YINC connect. He completed the ESAA Programme for Board Members and Supervisors in Governance at Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2013–2014.

More recently, Prins returned to regional development in an interim capacity, being appointed interim director-bestuurder of Horizon Flevoland (the development company for Flevoland province) in May, on a roughly six-month mandate; Chris van Voorden was subsequently named permanent director from 1 December.

• Increasingly favors early-stage bets: "We kiezen steeds vaker voor startups of verstrekken seed- of pre-seed kapitaal" ("We increasingly choose startups or provide seed or pre-seed capital").
• Invests in regional innovations — often university spinouts from Wageningen, Twente and Nijmegen — across agrofood, life sciences, high-tech and sustainable energy.
• Demands international ambition: portfolio companies must have global market plans, and he likes to see them open small offices abroad to be close to customers, even though the capital is regionally anchored.
• Co-invests to avoid concentrating public money: he seeks a private party or informal (angel) investor to invest jointly with the fund on each deal.
• Uses tiered return expectations by instrument: ~7–8% interest on innovation loans, ~10% on growth loans, and a minimum ~15% expected return on venture-capital equity.
• Shareholders prioritize capital preservation and regional economic development over maximizing returns.