Continuing our journey across the European startup & VC ecosystem it is time to stop by Belgium - ranking 22nd in the Global startup ranking with very favorable economic and policy conditions. We have already covered key institutions boosting entrepreneurship in the region, such as VC funds and accelerators, and now it is time to look closer at the most interesting early-stage innovative companies developing their solutions in Belgium.
ExeVir
ExeVir is a Belgian company headquartered in Zwijnaarde that operates in the field of novel medicines developments. Its goal is to protect populations unable to benefit from vaccines, such as immunocompromised individuals by creating novel antibody therapies, that allow for both the prevention and the treatment of bacterial and viral threats. Thanks to these protein-based therapeutics, ExeVir can respond to new health threats with agility and ease, creating drugs that are easy to produce at a reasonable cost, and therefore enabling true global access. In 2020 the startup raised a total of €42M in Series A funding.
Greenomy
Greenomy is a startup based in Brussels, Belgium that develops software for sustainability reporting. This platform is aimed at corporates, credit institutions, and asset managers and allows them to measure and disclose their sustainability by supporting them in the ESG reporting processes, EU Taxonomy rules, SFDR, NFRD/CSRD, EET and other. Moreover, investors also can use the EU Taxonomy-aligned data from Greenomy to screen their portfolio companies and manage the sustainable impact of their investments. In June 2022 the company secured a Corporate Round from Belgium-based Euroclear in the sum of €6.5M.
SOLiTHOR
Headquartered in Genk, Limburg, SOLiTHOR is a manufacturing company that develops solid-state battery technology. They are spearheading the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of solid-state lithium (Li) battery cell technology to offer high-energy storage solutions. The company’s objective is to support the transition toward carbon-free electromobility, targeting with their products key markets: aviation, maritime, space, and heavy electric vehicles. Their batteries are made to reduce operational costs and be lightweight, rechargeable, and safe. In May 2022, the company raised a seed funding round of €10M.
MICLEDI
MICLEDI, founded in 2019 in Leuven, is a startup operating in the semiconductor industry. It is a fabless manufacturer of microLED displays for the Augmented Reality (AR) market. Their technology is based on an ingenious combination of III/V materials processing, 3D integration and 300mm Si-based processing merged with a proprietary ASIC to provide a self-contained, compact monolithic AR display with high image quality and power efficiency. In 2020 they raised €4.5M funding in a seed round.
Cascador Health
Cascador Health, based in Tielrode, is a company bridging the gap between data providers and the healthcare research industry. Cascador Health collaborates with hospitals and pharmacies to gather Real-World Data, structuring, anonymizing and cleaning it, to make it available for the life science industry (medtech, pharma, health insurance, and more), which in turn can get better insight, improve its process and as a result - provide better care to patients. The startup so far has raised one round of seed financing in the sum of €3.4M.
CrowdScan
CrowdScan is a spin-off from imec and the University of Antwerp, developing a wireless sensor network that can measure crowd density without the use of cameras, mobile phone data or other privacy-sensitive information. By transmitting low-energetic radio waves CrowdScan measures the average signal attenuation of a wireless sensor network relative to an empty environment. This technology has already been implemented in various settings in the Flanders region, most notably it has been validated at large-scale events such as Tomorrowland. The company raised €800K in series A funding in December 2021.
CREDIX
CREDIX is an Antwerp-based startup operating in the fintech industry that develops a decentralized credit platform, offering borrowers in emerging countries access to previously unattainable capital. Their aim is to connect investors globally with credit opportunities by unlocking risk-adjusted returns through underwriting and building an advanced decentralized technology - a blockchain protocol. The most recent funding round secured by the company was a Series A round of $11.4M, raised in September 2022.
Tapio
Tapio is a Brussels-based startup, on the mission to help companies transition to a low-carbon economy by leveraging expertise, data and technology. It combines technology with purpose in a Carbon Strategy Platform, which allows businesses to calculate, analyze and reduce their environmental impact, and as a result - reduce their carbon footprint. In 2020 Tapio has raised a seed round of €500K.
Qollabi
Qollabi is a SaaS startup headquartered in Brussels, that develops Business Relationship Management Software (BRM) helping companies to build stronger partnerships and business relationships. The software is made for professionals who are responsible for managing indirect sales channels (eg. managing agents, branches, brokers, resellers, partners etc) and its mission is to connect companies and teams to collaborate on joint action plans making them more productive and successful. In June 2022 Qollabi secured a seed round funding in the amount of $2.3M.
ArtiQ
ArtiQ is a young spin-off company of the University of Leuven, set up in 2019 by founders with a long history of working in the fields of respiratory medicine, medical devices and artificial intelligence. They developed AI-based medical software that helps doctors save time and improve the interpretation of lung function tests and diagnosis of lung diseases. ArtiQ aims to become the trusted partner of medical practitioners for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of respiratory problems. In 2019 the company secured seed funding in the amount of €1M.
Thynk.Cloud
Thynk.Cloud is a Brussels-based startup developing a leading hospitality cloud solution servicing the corporate travel and MICE industry. Its mission is to deliver a seamless customer experience and enhance hotel guest satisfaction and loyalty. Its customer-centric and data-driven modules integrate use cases built by hoteliers, for hoteliers. The company is leveraged by sales and operation teams globally in order to grow better revenue streams through collaboration, focus, higher productivity, the agility of tailored packages, and data-driven decision-making. In April 2022 Thynk.Cloud has raised a seed round funding totaling €2M.
NuNet
NuNet is a company from Elsene, Belgium developing a computing framework that provides globally distributed computing power and storage for decentralized networks. Its mission is to support a decentralized, global economy for the benefit of all. It connects the owners of the data and computing resources with computational processes in demand of these resources. The NuNet protocol enables a global economy of decentralized computing, letting anyone create, share and monetize computing resources at scale. The company is still at a very early stage of development, and so far it has received grant funding in the amount of $120K.
Datavillage
Yet another company on the list headquartered in Brussels is Datavillage - a data platform that allows companies to benefit from the customers’ information while at the same time protecting users' privacy. This user-centric, personal data management solution allows individuals to connect, individually or together, their living personal data with private or public organizations through the creation of their own personal so-called "Digital Twin”. The twin is kept in a personal data store (PDS) that is managed by the consumers themselves. They can grant the access to companies in order to get personal services such as customized content preferences. In 2019, the company secured seed funding of €1M.
Abscint
Abscint is a clinical-stage molecular imaging company from Brussels, developing in-vivo diagnostics based on single-domain antibodies. It focuses on the development of radiolabelled single-domain antibodies for whole-body molecular imaging applications. Molecular imaging is used for the diagnosis of disease, molecular characterization of disease, monitoring treatment response, and for detection of disease recurrence. It is based on specific molecular markers that can be visualized over the entire body by a short scan.
The company has two clinical-stage products: one in oncology and one in cardiovascular disease.
Aicon Construction
Aicon Construction is a young startup from Moorsel, Belgium that develops smart cameras for construction sites. Its customers can see and log everything happening on site, create easy time-lapses, track the team’s progress online, as well as calculate the site’s efficiency. All of these services are available on Aicon’s platform powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. In February 2022 Aicon raised €250K in grant funding from Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO).
The Park Playground
The Park Playground is a startup that is headquartered in Antwerp but has locations all around the country. It's an entertainment facility offering an innovative, fully immersive VR experience. The Park’s guests can immerse themselves in a lifelike VR adventure, in large wireless playing fields where they can move around the playing area freely without any restrictions. In 2019 the company has raised a pre-seed round.
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