Investor profile
imec.istart
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imec.istart, the open accelerator program of imec (a world-leading R&D and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies), backs bold tech startups from day one — with capital, coaching, profound expertise and connections — to globally scale what matters. Since 2011, the program has invested in over 350 companies across Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany, providing €100,000 in pre-seed funding via a convertible loan (with up to €300,000 in follow-on support) alongside 12 months of tailored coaching, access to imec's technology infrastructure, and introductions to a wide network of co-investors and partners. Ranked #1 globally in the 'World Top Business Accelerator – Linked to University' category by UBI Global, imec.istart focuses on scalable tech companies with a working proof of concept and a complementary founding team. The program's ultimate goal is to get startups investor-ready and into the scaleup club, with portfolio companies having collectively raised over €650 million in follow-on funding — placing them among the top 3% of accelerator programs worldwide by this metric.
Notable quotes
“At imec.istart, we have been guiding tech entrepreneurs for more than 10 years in the development of their startup. Attracting the necessary financing has always been an important pillar in this regard. We always inform startup entrepreneurs that they should count on the fact that it takes between six and twelve months to complete a decent financing round, from first contact to effective money in their account.”
“Is imec.istart offering the highest valuation on the market for your startup if you consider the money only? Maybe not. But our package deal offers so much more than just the money. Our team brings over 15 years of experience and expertise in almost any aspect of building a great tech startup, an amazing community of founders and successful alumni, a large network of potential co-investors, talent and potential partners, and so much more.”
“Startups come with a much stronger case towards potential investors when their solutions have already been built with full scalability and agility in mind. Especially when in combination with early market traction, this should be an argument to spend a bit more time and resources initially in 'first time right' development of the software platform, rather than having to completely redesign the platform after early customers have been onboarded.”
Team
Ilse Vanhulle
Venture Acceleration Manager Health
Martijn Sijbers
Program Manager & Fund Manager, imec.istart The Netherlands
Sven De Cleyn
Program Director & Managing Director imec.istart Fund
Yannick Wilden
Program Manager, imec.istart Germany
Recent investments
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| PMV | 6 |
| Akiles | 2 |
| Buysse & Partners | 2 |
| LeanSquare | 2 |
| LRM | 2 |
| Seeder Fund | 2 |
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