As one of the largest spin-off investment firms in Europe, Qbic manages around EU 150 million in capital. It is building on partnerships with Flanders’ universities, including UGent, VUB, UAntwerpen and UHasselt, while also partnering with Flanders’ strategic research centers – such as VITO and imec – as well as several university hospitals.
As a venture capital fund, we focus on specific niches because we invest at a very early stage, in the creation of a spin-off. We sit down with the universities’ tech transfer teams every quarter, and we usually invest in coaching the scientific team around the technology a year before a spin-off is created.
The new fund’s capital comes from trusted investors, including Flanders’ public investment company PMV, banks such as KBC and BNP Paribas Fortis, and a series of private investors.
We want to announce the first two investments by summer. We are aiming for a total of four investments by the end of 2022. Ultimately, we want to raise as much as EUR 80 million with this third fund.
Looking at the previous investment funds set up by Qbic, the third fund is undoubtedly poised for biotech and medtech greatness. For example, the first fund, which was aptly named ‘Qbic I’, invested in 18 different start-up and spin-off companies. These include various flagship biotech firms from Flanders, such as the now listed biological pesticide specialist Biotalys as well as innovative drug discovery company Confo Therapeutics and biomarker expert Biogazelle.
Meanwhile, Qbic II provided funding to 19 companies, including crop growth specialist and sustainable wheat innovator Aphea.Bio and water purification technology leader Blue Foot Membranes.
