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 – 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.

Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec and one of the driving forces behind the imec.xpand fund: "Entrepreneurship is embedded in the DNA of imec. The market introduction of our research results through the creation of spin-offs is something we are strongly committed to. In Europe, however, the resources for high-tech startups that need expensive hardware expertise are limited, because such spin-offs have a long incubation period and cannot generate profits in the short term. The risk of investing in such spin-offs is also greater. With imec.xpand, we want to provide sufficient financial, technological and infrastructural support for these types of spin-offs."

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 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 nano-electronics 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, and energy.

As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together close to 3,500 brilliant minds from over 70 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and also has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. In 2015, imec's revenue (P&L) totaled 415 million euro and of iMinds which is integrated in imec as of September 21, 2016 52 million euro. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec-int.com

Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International (a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a "stichting van openbaar nut”), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government), imec the Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is supported by the Dutch Government), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.) and imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.) and imec India (Imec India Private Limited), imec Florida (IMEC USA nanoelectronics design center).