Formation of pre-seed venture capital fund imec.istart

Cresco acted as lead counsel to imec, the world leading R&D hub for nano- electronics and digital technology, and to the general partner of imec.istart fund, in the structuring, formation and fundraising of imec.istart fund.

Committed to supporting digital innovation and entrepreneurship in Flanders, the fund is the largest of its kind in Belgium for pre-seed investment, amounting to a total of 12,5 million euro for the coming five years. Investors include imec, the Flemish Region, ING Belgium, BNP Paribas Fortis, the Cronos Group and Telenet.

The fund offers Flemish tech entrepreneurs an initial investment of 50,000 euro to help them start their business. High-promising start-ups will also have a chance to receive further financial support from the fund. These companies will receive additional pre-seed funding ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 euro and deeper support to help them further develop their business with Living Labs trajectories, rapid prototyping and C-level leadership coaching.

The imec.istart incubation program was launched in the Summer of 2011. Today, it supports more than 130 Flemish tech start-ups. In 2015, the program was ranked as a Top University Business Accelerator by UBI Global. The new imec.istart fund will run over the next five years (2017-2022).

Sven De Cleyn, imec.istart program manager, comments: “For several years the Cresco team has provided valuable subject matter expertise to the imec.istart tech entrepreneurs. We are very pleased to have worked closely with the Cresco team in the formation of imec.istart fund and are looking forward to continuing our long term partnership. They are unique in the Belgian market in combining a wealth of experience in fund formation with deep and unique technology and venture capital expertise.”

David Dessers comments: “We are very pleased in having assisted imec and the general partner of imec.istart fund in setting up this unique pre-seed venture capital fund. The formation of the fund is a logical continuation of th support we have provided and will continue to provide to many imec.istart tech entrepeneurs through coaching, workshops and guidance.“

More information on this fund formation can be found in De Tijd.

For any further information or questions, please contact David Dessers.