Key points

  • A feasibility study into an AI application can be subsidized for northern SMEs up to 40% via the SNN mkb-haalbaarheidsvoucher (max. 45,000 euros, applications until 30 November 2026). Note: research and advice only; building is excluded.
  • Employers in the Groningen labor market region can receive up to 100,000 euros (50%) for a structural training track via the NPG scheme, including the training and the learning hours themselves. Open for applications on a rolling basis until the end of 2028.
  • The national SLIM scheme reimburses 60% of the advice, the plan and the method around learning and development in SMEs, up to 24,999 euros; the training itself is excluded. The next window runs from 10 August to 7 September 2026.
  • The WBSO reduces the wage costs of your own development work by 36% (starters 50%), but only for technically new work; implementing an existing AI model does not count.
  • Choose the scheme that matches your goal (research, train, build) and feel free to combine them, as long as you do not claim the same costs twice. And start with your plan, not with the subsidy.

For companies in Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe there is more support for AI plans than most entrepreneurs know, and the amounts are serious: from tens of thousands of euros to a hundred thousand. The trick is to match the right scheme to the right goal. Below you read which routes are open in 2026, what they cover, how the application works and how you combine schemes without tying yourself down.

Table of contents

  1. Three flavors of support: research, train, build
  2. SNN: the regional route for feasibility research
  3. SLIM: the national scheme for the learning plan
  4. NPG: the Groningen training scheme with the highest ceiling
  5. WBSO: a reduction on your own development work
  6. How to combine schemes without tying yourself down
  7. How we can help
  8. Frequently asked questions

Three flavors of support: research, train, build

Subsidies for AI fall into three categories, and that split is also your reading guide:

  • Research: you have an idea for an AI-driven product or service and want to know whether it is feasible. Regional route: the SNN mkb-haalbaarheidsvoucher.
  • Train: you want your people to learn to work with AI, or you want external advice on how your organization develops. Two routes: the national SLIM scheme (for the plan and the method) and, for employers in the Groningen labor market region, the NPG training scheme (also for the track itself, with a much higher ceiling).
  • Build: you develop technically new software yourself (or with a partner). National route: the WBSO.

In 2026 there is no separate "AI voucher" for the Northern Netherlands. But the European Digital Innovation Hub Noord-Nederland (EDIH NN) does offer free advice to SMEs on digitalization and AI, including help finding the right scheme. A free first point of contact, then, not a subsidy pot.

SNN: the regional route for feasibility research

Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) runs the European EFRO schemes for Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen. For AI plans, the mkb-haalbaarheidsvoucher is the relevant scheme in 2026:

  • For whom: SMEs, based or active in one of the three northern provinces.
  • What: 40% of the cost of a feasibility study into a new product or new service, up to a maximum of 45,000 euros in subsidy. Good to know: within such a project nothing may be built. The voucher covers research and advice; the building comes afterward, at your own expense or via another route.
  • Condition to watch: at least 20% of the project costs must be spent at a northern testing ground, such as a knowledge institution that takes part in the regional innovation network.
  • When: applications are possible until 30 November 2026 (17:00), as long as budget remains. The budget is limited; anyone with serious plans is wise not to wait until the autumn.

There is also a national MIT feasibility scheme that SNN runs for the north (35%, max. 20,000 euros), but the 2026 window is already full after the April draw. So for this year the mkb-haalbaarheidsvoucher is the route; MIT returns in 2027.

From our own experience with an SNN application: the substantive bar is higher than the application form suggests. You need a worked-out project plan with a research question, a budget and a justification of why it is innovative for the region. Count on several weeks of lead time for the writing and plan the testing ground collaboration early.

SLIM: the national scheme for the learning plan

The SLIM scheme (Stimuleringsregeling leren en ontwikkelen in mkb-ondernemingen) runs as a multi-year scheme through to and including 2029. It is important to be clear about what it covers: the advice, the plan and the method around learning and development. Think of a review of your training needs that results in a training or development plan, for example for working with AI. The training itself is excluded; you pay that yourself, or in the Groningen region you cover part of it via the NPG scheme below.

  • For whom: individual SMEs (there is a separate, larger variant for partnerships).
  • What: 60% of the eligible costs, with a minimum of 5,000 euros in costs, up to a maximum of 24,999 euros in subsidy.
  • When: the second application window of 2026 runs from 10 August to and including 7 September. The desk is Uitvoering van Beleid (ministry of SZW).

For AI plans this connects well to AI literacy, which the EU AI Act has formally required since February 2025: a solid training plan is the first step toward it, and that plan is exactly what SLIM subsidizes.

NPG: the Groningen training scheme with the highest ceiling

Employers in the Groningen labor market region (the Groningen municipalities plus Noordenveld) have had a scheme since May 2026 that goes further than SLIM: "Werkgevers investeren in scholing en ontwikkeling", paid from the Nationaal Programma Groningen and run by SNN.

  • For whom: individual employers, without an SME limit.
  • What: up to 50% of the costs of a training and development track, from 10,000 to 100,000 euros in subsidy. Unlike SLIM, the training itself and your employees' learning hours also count (lost-time costs at a fixed hourly rate).
  • When: open for applications on a rolling basis until the end of 2028, as long as budget remains; applications are handled in order of receipt.
  • The bar: there is a substantive quality threshold. A one-off course scores too low; the scheme rewards a structural learning track with embedding in the organization and knowledge sharing.

For a Groningen company that wants to invest seriously in AI skills, this is the most interesting scheme in this list in 2026. Do count on a worked-out project plan; the threshold is deliberately higher than for a small voucher.

WBSO: a reduction on your own development work

Anyone who develops software themselves can reduce the wage costs of that development work via the WBSO (through RVO): in 2026 by 36% on the first 391,020 euros of R&D wage sum, and 50% for starters.

The most important limitation for AI projects: it must concern technically new work for your company. Finetuning a model yourself, building a new architecture or developing technically unsolved integrations can qualify. Calling an existing AI model via an API or setting up a standard chatbot is routine application of existing technology and usually does not count. When in doubt, ask for advice in advance; a rejected WBSO application mainly costs your own time.

How to combine schemes without tying yourself down

The routes do not exclude each other, because they cover different costs. A healthy order for a serious AI plan:

  1. Start for free: put your question to EDIH Noord-Nederland or your own advisor to test which scheme fits.
  2. Research first: a feasibility study (possibly with an SNN voucher) tells you whether building makes sense, before you incur build costs.
  3. Bring your people along: the training plan (possibly with SLIM) and the training track itself (in the Groningen region possibly with the NPG scheme) in parallel with or directly after the research, so the team is ready when the building happens.
  4. Build with a reduction: if you then develop technically new work yourself, the WBSO lowers the wage costs.

Two warnings. First: never claim the same costs under two schemes; stacking subsidies is allowed, double-claiming is not, and some schemes fall under the de minimis ceiling for state aid. Second, and more important: start with your plan, not with the subsidy. We regularly see tracks shaped to what a scheme reimburses instead of to what the company needs. A subsidy makes a good plan cheaper; a bad plan at best becomes a cheaper disappointment.

How we can help

We are not a subsidy advisor and do not submit applications for you. What we do do: deliver the substantive foundation that every application asks for. Our workshops and learning tracks can form the training part of a SLIM or NPG track. And if you first want to know where your organization stands, take the free AI scan: in a few minutes it shows which phase of AI maturity you are in and what a logical next step is.

Feel free to get in touch for a no-obligation conversation. We first look at whether your plan holds up, and then which route fits it.

Frequently asked questions

How much subsidy can I get for an AI project in the Northern Netherlands?

That depends on your goal. A feasibility study: up to 45,000 euros via the SNN mkb-haalbaarheidsvoucher (40% of the costs). A training track in the Groningen labor market region: up to 100,000 euros via the NPG scheme (50%). The training plan: up to 24,999 euros via SLIM (60%). Your own development work: a 36% reduction on the R&D wage costs via the WBSO. Amounts and percentages apply for 2026.

Can I combine SLIM and an SNN scheme?

Yes, as long as you claim different costs: the SNN voucher covers research costs, SLIM covers the learning plan. Watch out in particular for SLIM and the NPG scheme alongside each other; both touch training, and the same costs may only be funded once. Also take into account the de minimis ceiling for state aid and have the combination checked if in doubt.

I am in the province of Groningen; which scheme fits best then?

For training, the NPG scheme is usually more interesting than SLIM: a higher ceiling and the training and the learning hours themselves also count (do check whether your municipality falls within the Groningen labor market region). For feasibility research the SNN voucher is the route, for your own development work the WBSO.

Does And AI do the subsidy application for me?

No. We deliver the substantive plan and the analysis on which an application rests; for the application process itself you work with a subsidy advisor or do it yourself. That keeps everyone's role clean.

Does the WBSO also apply if an agency does the building?

The WBSO applies to R&D hours of your own employees (or, as a self-employed person, to your own hours). Work that you fully outsource is not covered. If you build together, only your own technical development work qualifies.

This article is part of our guide AI in Groningen.

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