Private company
Companies forming the Dutch East India Company
A voorcompagnie (pre-company) is the name given to trading companies from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands that traded in Asia between 1594 and 1602, before they merged to form the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The pre-companies were financed by merchants from the Northern Netherlands and rich immigrants from the Southern Netherlands. The government forced the smaller trading companies to unite and form the (United) East India Company.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
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A voorcompagnie (pre-company) is the name given to trading companies from the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands that traded in Asia between 1594 and 1602, before they merged to form the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The pre-companies were financed by merchants from the Northern Netherlands and rich immigrants from the Southern Netherlands. The government forced the smaller trading companies to unite and form the (United) East India Company. In turn, it received exclusive rights to trade with Asia for the following 21 years.2
In the seven years before the founding of the VOC, 12 pre-companies were formed:
According to Jaap ter Haar, "they were sailing the coins out of each other's pockets and the shoes off each other's feet". In total fifteen expeditions were sent between 1594 and 1601, excluding 3 troubled expeditions via North Cape (Norway).
From Wikipedia’s article on Voorcompagnie, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
