Our journey began in 1982, and has led to a completely new industry. It has inspired many and we are doing our utmost to ensure that it continues to do so. Our journey is thus far from over.
In the more than 40 years of our existence, we have had the opportunity to witness up close the development of 100,000+ innovative organizations from small to very large. We have seen that innovation never stops because there will always be new challenges. Therefore, our journey is far from over. And we know what we have to do: connecting innovation to meaningful impact.
Our growth continues and is also the prelude to new milestones in our existence. First, we welcome Acker & Partners and Aristos to the group in 2024. In addition, GFinance in Italy and Esacon in Norway joined, followed in 2025 by Creaconsulting in Italy. PNO is now represented in 10 European countries.
PNO has been a strong brand right from its inception, and with the many recent expansions, we felt the need to further underline this. Therefore, since 2025, we are called PNO Innovation. A new name which, together with a new logo, forms a perfect connection between what lies behind us and has made us who we are, and what is yet to come.
By joining hands with Bencis Capital Partners, we can further strengthen our position as leading European grants and innovation consultancy. With their support, we further improve the quality of our grant and innovation services and continue to professionalize our organization, making PNO even more attractive not only to innovative organizations who are at the forefront of solving the larger challenges of our time, but also to talented men and women looking for a new and meaningful challenge.
Our sectoral focus deepens with the acquisition of education specialist Nehem, life sciences & health specialist ttopstart and Arttic, expert in large-scale EU-funded projects in aerospace and security. With the subsequent launch of EGEN (large-scale energy and mobility projects) and ffiqs (grants administration), the foundation has been laid for our specialty teams, through which PNO can provide specialist expertise to help solve complex thematic issues.
We also set up offices in Spain, Portugal and Greece, giving PNO Consultants representation in nine European countries. With the acquisition of Innovation Engineering, a specialist in the development of generative AI tools to support innovation processes, we have the knowledge and capacity to take our clients’ innovations to greater heights through even better access to funding, knowledge and networks.
While the financial crisis in Europe still echoes, a review of our growth plans leads to an adjustment of our international footprint and a relative strengthening of our positions in Western and Southern Europe. A start is made with a new, sectoral-focused strategy, visualizing the bedrock of the strong company that we are today.
A period of strong growth dawns: first from 3 to 40 employees and then to more offices in the Netherlands. There is a great need for sound subsidy advice which, alongside PNO Consultants, is filled by many new advising companies that take a cue from our successful initiative. In the zero years, our growth accelerates by the acquisition of grants and incentives activities of Deloitte and EY. Also, in these years our international expansion starts off with the joining up with CiaoTech in Italy and Econet in Spain and with offices in multiple European countries. Our staff has meanwhile grown to more than 300 people.
Three Dutch students launch PNO Consultants to help companies find their way through the complex subsidy landscape. The initiative is unique: PNO Consultants becomes the first grants consultancy in the Netherlands and to this day fulfills its role as market leader in the Dutch R&D tax credit with gusto. Little did they realize then that they were at the birth of a whole new industry: grants consultancy.
We have come a long way, but the best is yet to come. Be a part of what is next and help us create a brighter, more innovative future.
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