The Belgian tech accelerator imec.istart has announced the expansion of its operations and startup support programs to include three new European countries: Spain, Germany, and Bulgaria. This brings the total number of countries in which it operates to six, adding to its existing presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy.
Massive investments and a unified regional network
This expansion relies on a growing network of independently managed regional investment funds, currently valued at over 160 million euros, with ambitious plans to surpass the 250 million euro mark by 2027. The accelerator aims to empower entrepreneurs in the digital and applied deep-tech sectors to access capital, expertise, and networking opportunities in every new market they enter, without the need to start from scratch with every cross-border move.
A cross-border collaborative model
Founded in 2011, imec.istart has successfully supported over 380 startups, with its portfolio companies raising more than 1.25 billion euros in follow-on funding from external investors. Among the most notable fast-growing startups that have emerged from its program are companies such as Octave, DataCamp, and Payflip.
Sven De Cleyn, program director at imec.istart, explained that the main challenge facing startups in Europe is not a lack of investment funds, but rather the complexities, fragmented rules, and capital scattered across different national markets. The new model aims to remove these barriers by building strong regional partnerships, such as Novel-T in the Netherlands, Additio Capital, Eurecat, and Mobile World Capital in Spain, and Pariter Partners in Italy, rather than exporting a single rigid template across borders.
What does this mean for entrepreneurs?
This expansion ensures that tech startups receive support that is unified in methodology and training, along with access to a vast network of international investors, while maintaining the flexibility of locally managed regional funds tailored to the nature of each individual European market.