Strategy & partners

Qbic is a sector-agnostic seed and early-stage venture capital fund, supporting spin-offs and start-ups that valorize research from Qbic's knowledge partners. We typically participate in the first external investment round of a company, and continue to support and fund these companies throughout their growth.

More specifically, we invest in start-ups that fall into one of the below categories.

1

Knowledge partner spin-off

A company that was founded based on technological innovations originating at Qbic's partner universities, research institutes or hospitals.

2

Start-up linked to knowledge partner

A start-up with a strong R&D collaboration with one of Qbic's knowledge partners. This collaboration can be structured through joint development contracts, clinical studies, IP license agreements, etc.

Our knowledge partners

The first Qbic fund, Qbic I, was founded in 2012 by bringing together the dedicated spin-off funds from VUB, Ghent University and University of Antwerp. Qbic I has a fund size of € 40M and ended its investment period in December 2016.

Qbic II was launched in 2017 and collaborates with a larger network of Belgian universities, research institutes and hospitals. Qbic II also broadened its investor base, bringing the fund size up to almost € 60M. The investment period of Qbic II ended in 2022.

The most recent fund, Qbic III, was launched in 2022 and constitutes the spin-off fund for an even greater network of Belgian knowledge partners. The fund recently had a first close at € 49M. 

Universiteit Gent
Universiteit Gent

Universiteit Gent

VUB
VUB

VUB

Universiteit Hasselt
Universiteit Hasselt

Universiteit Hasselt

ULiège
ULiège

ULiège

Universiteit Antwerpen
Universiteit Antwerpen

Universiteit Antwerpen

VITO
VITO

VITO

imec
imec

imec

UZ Gent
UZ Gent

UZ Gent

UZ Brussel
UZ Brussel

UZ Brussel

UZ Antwerpen
UZ Antwerpen

UZ Antwerpen

CHU de Liège
CHU de Liège

CHU de Liège

Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg Genk
Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg Genk

Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg Genk

AZ Maria Middelares
AZ Maria Middelares

AZ Maria Middelares

OLV Aalst
OLV Aalst

OLV Aalst

VITAZ
VITAZ

VITAZ

Clinique Saint-Luc Bouge
Clinique Saint-Luc Bouge

Clinique Saint-Luc Bouge