Imec.xpand Raises EUR 117 Million to Invest in Innovative, Early-Stage Ideas Leveraging Imec's Knowledge, Expertise and Infrastructure

LEUVEN, Belgium, September 12, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Imec.xpand, an independent early-stage and growth fund that was initiated by imec, the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technology, today announced the closing of its first fund at EUR 117 million in committed capital. The amount raised exceeds the initial target of EUR 100 million and positions imec.xpand as a major player in the deep tech venture capital ecosystem.

Imec.xpand is an early-stage and growth fund with a game-changing approach to turn hardware driven nanotechnology innovation into successful global companies. The fund targets ambitious tech start-ups for whom imec knowledge, expertise and infrastructure can play a determining role in their success.

Imec.xpand wants to engage with companies at an early stage, at the same time reserving sufficient financial resources to support the selected ventures from the early stages of development all the way through the commercialization of their product. This will enable start-ups to focus on developing a technology and on building a business, rather than spending all their time and energy on securing the next round of financing. This philosophy will increase the speed at which ventures can enter the market and help create the technology leaders of tomorrow that will generate above-average financial returns for the investors in imec.xpand.

The fund is managed by Peter Vanbekbergen, Frank Bulens, Cyril Vančura and Tom Vanhoutte who each bring a wealth of entrepreneurial, venture capital and/or business expertise to the table. The combination of this independent management, corporate as well as financially driven investors, universities and imec, who are all committed to contribute to the success of the fund, sets imec.xpand apart from other venture capital initiatives.

The fund was launched in 2017 with the strong support of imec and the Flemish government. Since then, imec.xpand has attracted renowned international strategic and institutional investors like Samsung Electronics, BNP Paribas Fortis, Applied Materials, SK Hynix, Philips, the Brabant development company BOM, KBC Insurance, the Belgian federal investment company SFPI-FPIM and several high net worth individuals and universities. Belfius Insurance, the Flemish investment company PMV and KPN Ventures joined most recently.

About imec.xpand

Imec.xpand is an early stage and growth venture capital fund with a game-changing approach to turn hardware driven nanotechnology innovation into successful global companies. The fund is independently managed by a team of entrepreneurs, seasoned venture capitalists and business experts and is targeting ambitious tech start-ups that meet all the criteria to become a successful, scalable venture with the potential to change the world. Imec.xpand will boost those ventures by supporting them operationally and financially from seed to exit, by enabling capex light innovation in a capex heavy environment and by giving them access to the unique imec knowledge, expertise, network and state of the art infrastructure.

For more information about imec.xpand please visit us on www.imecxpand.com.

About imec

Imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The combination of our widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes us unique. By leveraging our world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, we create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education. 

As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together more than 4,000 brilliant minds from over 85 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. In 2017, imec's revenue (P&L) totaled 546 million euro. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec-int.com.

For more information about imec.xpand:

Tom Vanhoutte, Partner, +32 479 81 79 83 // [email protected]

Source: Imec.xpand