Imec's venture capital arm has received $36.7m in capital from the Flemish government for its sophomore fund.
Imec.xpand, the venture capital arm of nano-electronics research institute Imec, has secured €30m ($36.7m) from the Flemish government, De Tijd reported on Thursday.
The money represents the first publicly disclosed commitment to Imec.xpand’s second fund, which is expected to begin investing next year.
Imec.xpand’s $135m first fund closed in 2018 was backed by Imec itself, the fund’s largest stakeholder, and unnamed universities as well as the Flemish government and other public entities.
The first fund also attracted a range of corporate investors including Applied Materials, Philips, Samsung and SK Hynix, in addition to several financial services firms and private investors.
It has backed 12 companies to date, including ultrasound sensor-equipped patch creator Pulsify Medical and diabetes management system developer Indigo Diabetes.
It received Global University Venturing’s Fundraising of the Year award in 2019 and partner Tom Vanhoutte was the first-ever guest on the Talking Tech Transfer podcast.
Flemish innovation minister Hilde Crevits said the 12 portfolio companies had jointly created some 170 jobs and she expected the new fund to accelerate the process.
The Flemish government hoped its participation would attract private venture capital to help position the region for economic recovery and further enable an innovation ecosystem, she added.
