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During the pandemic, we witnessed layoffs and pay cuts by a lot of companies. In fact, some of them even froze hiring. However, for the past few months, things are looking better. Especially for the Belgium startup ecosystem, as it has been growing and thriving, and entrepreneurs are now finding it easier to raise funds.
Currently, the most popular startup hubs in Belgium are Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Hasselt, Waterloo, and Liege. The Belgium startup map has about 436 startups and the country currently ranks 24 globally among 202 countries, based on the strength of its startup ecosystem. Reportedly, the country has 11 incubators, 31 accelerators, 101 VCs, and 141 business angel investors.
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According to Dealroom, 9 Belgium-based startups have raised capital in the month of May 2021, and are looking to expand their services globally as well as hire new talents. We have, therefore, compiled a list of these startups. Certain details of these startups, such as founders’ names, founded year, and the total funding amount raised, have been sourced from Dealroom.
Ziphius Vaccines
Founder(s): Chris Cardon, Kristof Vercruysse, Mathieu Ghadanfar, Tom Almey
Founded in: 2019
Funding: €24.3M
Ziphius Vaccines is a biopharmaceutical company that is on a mission to reduce the global impact of infectious diseases on global healthcare by creating a new generation of transformative vaccines. The company is concentrating on a new class of vaccines, the messenger RNA or mRNA-based vaccines. Ziphius claims to have a portfolio of next-generation vaccine candidates targeting a wide range of infectious diseases.
Currently, the platform is rapidly expanding its pipeline and moving forward multiple preclinical development programs towards the clinic. The company recently raised capital and is looking to hire talents. You can apply here.
MobieTrain
Founder(s): Guy Van Neck, Mireille van Hemert-Schelling, Willi Van Boven
Founded in: 2015
Funding: €6.8M
MobieTrain offers a microlearning app to its clients that empowers employees with daily, bite-sized content that boosts knowledge retention and productivity. In simple terms, the MobieTrain app allows companies to design very individualised and dynamic learning paths for their employees. In fact, the organisations can use the intelligent microlearning platform to share new information with personnel or refresh their knowledge at a rhythm that suits them in a mobile, flexible, user-friendly, and effective way.
The app is already being used by leading brands, including Decathlon, Diesel, Proximus, Timberland and Vans. Further, the company is located at the C-Mine startup campus in Genk. The company has recently raised €4M in funding and is looking for sales talents. You can apply here.
Accelleran
Founder(s): Harsharan Jit Singh, Antonio García
Founded in: 2013
Funding: €9.8M
Accelleran provides software solutions and services for Open 4G, and 5G RAN and vRAN. The company supports cloud-native deployment of RAN software components on the edge, in the cloud or embedded in the RRU. Accelleran’s commitment to openness enables multi-vendor radio deployments and delivers open RAN data for AI-enabled network algorithms.
Accelleran’s carrier-grade, reliable, portable, and performant Radio Access Network Solutions provides services across markets such as private networks, fixed wireless, public mobile, neutral host and IoT.
The company has recently raised €6.8M in its Series B round of funding led by Cogito Capital Partners, with participation from Qbic, and existing investors Capital-E and AAAF. The raised capital was for accelerating its global expansion and increasing its headcounts – you can apply here.
Pulsify Medical
Founder(s): Steve Stoffels, Iwan van Vijfeijken
Founded in: 2019
Funding: €8M
Pulsify Medical is a spin-off from both imec as well as the Catholic University Leuven (Medical Imaging Center). Both partners contribute critical, technology, and research support. It is a developer of an ultrasound-based cardiac health monitoring patch. It tracks cardiac output, stroke volume, and the left ventricle’s ejection to detect insufficient cardiac performance and reduce risks.
It continuously measures and monitors cardiac performance and also has features for data collection, capture, and analysis. Earlier in May 2021, Pulsify Medical raised a total of €5.5M in funding and is looking to “growth and hiring!”. Apply here.
Projective
Founder(s): Stefan Dierckx
Founded in: 2006
Funding: N/A
Projective is a business, technology, and innovation consulting and change firm exclusively focused on the financial industry (banking/insurance/capital markets). Its aim is to enable its clients to build the next generation businesses, to transform markets, and adopt new business models for a positive impact on society at large.
Its team comprises experienced industry practitioners, management consultants, and delivery & technology experts in the domains like retail and wholesale banking, payments, investment management, capital markets, market infrastructure, and insurance. Currently, Projective operates from Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, Germany, and France and are looking into further expansion to other countries in near future.
The company recently raised an undisclosed amount and is looking to increase its headcount. You can apply here.
Apicbase
Founder(s): Carl Jacobs, Julien Burlat, Kim Rothuys, Pieter Wellens
Founded in: 2017
Funding: €6.2M
Apicbase is a SaaS company that develops a food & beverage management platform for hospitality and food businesses and claims to deliver strong growth rates. The company focuses on multi-unit restaurants, ghost kitchens, meal-kit businesses, and large-scale catering operations.
The company has recently raised €4M in funding and has plans to open offices in Amsterdam, London, and New York.
Cohabs
Founder(s): Youri Dauber, Malik Dauber, François Samyn
Founded in: 2016
Funding: about €76.7M
Cohabs provides a network of managed co-living spaces in Belgium. It offers fully furnished shared/single living spaces along with paid amenities such as cleaning services, laundry services, car rental facilities, yoga classes, networking events and more. Users can register online to apply & book a viewing.
The spaces are available on a monthly or yearly basis. Currently, it operates nearly 45 houses in Brussels (many of which are large, extravagant homes with more than ten members); two in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; and a third to open in Harlem this summer, and two others in Paris by the end of this year. The company has raised a total of €58M in funding in the month of May 2021.
Wantotrip
Founder(s): Chahrazed Remadi, Makrem Hermassi
Founded in: 2017
Funding: €65.5K
Wantotrip is an international travelling platform that connects community leaders with like-minded adventures to travel and learn through worldwide trips. The company had recently raised $72K in its Seed round of funding from Flat6Labs Tunis.
Live the World
Founder(s): Joris Vanherp, Zoë Vets
Founded in: December 2020
Funding: €300K
Live the World is on a mission to create a fun and easy-to-use travel planning platform which provides personalised content and recommendations. The company offers travellers seeking local, authentic experiences for their trip planning. It does this through authentic slow travel experiences verified by locals, independent information in a bite-sized, trusted format; and, personalised and curated activities driven by AI technology. According to Dealroom, the company has recently raised €300K in its Seed round of funding.
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