Brainport: why we're here and staying put

Our office is on Willemstraat 1, a one-minute walk from the cosy Kleine Berg and a few minutes' walk from the Markt, Wilhelminaplein, Stadhuisplein and Eindhoven Central Station. The heart of Eindhoven, the heart of Brainport. And that's no coincidence: a large part of our clients and collaborations come from this region or started here. We're proud of it.

On this page you'll find what Brainport is, where it came from, what the numbers say and where it's heading. Plus what we ourselves do here and take from the region. All figures below come from the Brainport Monitor and public sources.

What is Brainport, exactly?

Brainport Eindhoven is the Southeast Brabant region: Eindhoven, Helmond and the surrounding municipalities. It's the place where high tech, manufacturing, design, chips, medtech and software meet. ASML, Philips, VDL, NXP, Signify, Thermo Fisher, DAF, TU/e, Fontys, Summa, TNO, Holst Centre, High Tech Campus, Strijp-S, Automotive Campus. And in between, hundreds of suppliers, engineering firms, start-ups and scale-ups doing the actual work.

What makes the region special isn't a single company. It's the habit of collaborating with parties you'd call competitors elsewhere. Businesses, knowledge institutions and government sit at the same table here — the triple helix, as it's officially known. In practice it's simply: call someone, stop by, try something out.

The numbers: small on the map, big in impact

• €3.9 billion in private R&D was invested by businesses in Southeast Brabant in 2022 — a 20% increase in a single year (Brainport Monitor, 2022 figures).
• 23.1% of all private R&D spending in the Netherlands comes from this one region (2022). Nearly a quarter of the entire country's research and development.
• 7.2% of regional GDP goes into private R&D. The national target is 2.5% and the European target 3.0%. The Netherlands' number two, the Delft region, sits at 3.5% (2022).
• €3,001 million was invested by ASML in R&D in 2024 — the largest R&D investor in the Netherlands, followed by Philips (€650m) and Booking.com (€554m).
• 3.6% average annual economic growth between 2014 and 2024, versus 2.0% nationally. In the peak year 2022 the region grew 6.1% (Netherlands: 4.5%). 2024 was quieter, at +0.3%.
• €117.9 billion was exported in goods by North Brabant in 2023. Of that, €52.3 billion was machinery and transport equipment — nearly a third of the Netherlands' entire export in that category.
• 98,304 business establishments in Southeast Brabant, of which 32,297 (32.9%) in one of the nine key sectors. Largest group: the creative industry with 9,614 establishments. Fastest grower in 2024: high-tech systems and materials, +9.8%.

Put those numbers side by side and it's clear why Brainport matters in The Hague and Brussels. This region earns a share of the Netherlands' funding while having only a fraction of the population of the Randstad.

From lightbulb factory to chip machines

It starts in 1891, when Gerard and Frederik Philips open a small lightbulb factory in Eindhoven. What follows is more than a company: housing, shops, sports clubs, a hospital, a research lab. The NatLab becomes the place where the Netherlands learns what systematic research means.

In 1928 Hub van Doorne starts what later becomes DAF in a small shed. Two families, two industries, one region getting used to making things itself.

In 1956 the Eindhoven University of Technology arrives, now TU/e. Talent no longer needs to come from elsewhere; it's trained here. And in 1984, a collaboration between Philips and ASM International produces a subsidiary nobody expects to grow big: ASML. Today there isn't a chip in your phone that doesn't carry some of this region's technology.

Then come the 1990s. Philips relocates its headquarters, DAF goes through bankruptcy, tens of thousands of jobs disappear. That's the real turning point: instead of waiting for The Hague, businesses, knowledge institutions and municipalities sit down together. Out of that necessity comes the collaboration model the region is now known for. The old Philips sites become campuses and creative districts — Strijp-S, High Tech Campus, Strijp-T. In 2016 the Dutch cabinet recognises Brainport as the country's third mainport, alongside Schiphol and the Port of Rotterdam.

In short: this region grew by putting a crisis to good use. That instinct is still there.

Where it's heading

On 28 March 2024 the Dutch cabinet decided on Project Beethoven: national government, province and region are jointly investing €2.51 billion through 2030 in talent, space, accessibility, housing and energy around the microchip sector. The reason isn't romantic but practical: growth is hitting limits. Not enough people, not enough space, not enough power.

That's also the honest part of the story. Anyone doing business here knows the bottlenecks:

• Staffing. From vocationally trained technicians to chip designers: the labour market is tight and staying tight.
• Grid congestion. Expanding or setting up can fall through because there's no power connection available.
• Housing and mobility. Job growth without matching growth in housing and infrastructure gets stuck.
• Sensitivity to economic cycles. The region is heavily specialised in industry. That works brilliantly when the market is up, and it's felt sooner than elsewhere when it isn't.

At the same time, this is where the rest of Europe is watching: chips and photonics, AI and data, the energy transition, medical technology, smart mobility, robotisation of manufacturing. For a company looking to grow, being here is almost an unfair advantage.

What we do here — and take from the region

We're not a chip company. We're a digital, marketing and AI agency from Eindhoven, and our work sits exactly where technology and customer need to find each other. What we owe to the region:

• Clients from the region. From manufacturers and technical service providers to webshops, healthcare, construction and professional services. Often companies with a great product and a story that hasn't landed online yet. That's where we're useful.
• Collaborations. We work with freelancers, developers, designers, video makers and specialists from the region. For most projects, everyone's within half an hour's drive of each other. You notice that in speed and in quality.
• Knowledge exchange. Meetups, drinks, networking, or simply a good conversation on a terrace by the Dommel. That's how we heard early about tools that later became standard. Being the first official Lovable partner in the Netherlands also comes from that reflex: try the new thing yourself first, then talk about it.
• Talent. TU/e, Fontys and Summa produce people who think both technically and commercially. Exactly the combination this work needs.
• Mentality. Do what you say, no fuss, help each other out. That's Brabant style, and it's a pleasant way to do business.

And then the opportunities. We see plenty, and most of them aren't spectacular but they are concrete: high-tech companies that haven't yet turned their expertise into content people can find. B2B organisations that aren't measuring their leads. Webshops growing in visitors but not in conversions. Companies that want AI but don't know where to start. And international visitors landing on a Dutch-only site — in a region where a third of the talent comes from abroad.

Proud, but not blind

Brainport isn't perfect. The region undersells itself compared with the Randstad, is occasionally too modest about what's here, and the things that work best often happen out of sight. We too have clients who are world class technically and were barely findable online.

That's exactly why we enjoy working here. There's still so much to tell.

Working in the region and want to compare notes?

Based in Eindhoven, Helmond, Veldhoven, Best, Nuenen, Son or elsewhere in the region, and want a no-obligation chat about online marketing, your website, leads or AI? Stop by our office at Willemstraat 1 in Eindhoven, or ask your question here. Coffee's on, and we'll tell you straight if something isn't a good fit.

Sources: Brainport Monitor (Brainport Development), Project Beethoven (Dutch national government, 28 March 2024) and the history of Brainport Eindhoven.