Belgian tech is on a path to sustainable growth with nearly €500M raised in H1 2024: State of Belgian Tech Report

Belgian Tech is on a path to sustainable growth. In H1 2024, startups raised nearly €500M, surpassing the €424M in total funding for the entire previous year.

This data was presented in the inaugural ‘State of Belgian Tech Report’, published by Syndicate One, Bain & Company in collaboration with Sofina, combining current data analysis with an extensive founder survey and a series of in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors.

“The rise of Belgian Tech can benefit everyone: founders and leadership teams have the opportunity to innovate, learn, and deliver solutions that are cheaper, better, or greener for consumers. Investors, in turn, are increasingly drawn to the ecosystem, bringing in capital that accelerates growth. Most importantly, Belgian society as a whole stands to benefit from this momentum, creating a virtuous cycle of innovation and progress,” says Cédric Bovy, Senior Partner, Bain & Company.

Here are the key takeaways from the report

Raised €500M in H1 2024

According to the report, investments in Belgium have shown a post-2022 dip recovery stronger than the European average. In H1 2024, the investments in Belgian tech startups amounted to nearly €500M surpassing the €424M in total funding for the entire previous year.

Increase in the number of exits

Over the last six years, the average amount invested per round per stage has increased, tripling at the Seed and Series B stage, and more than doubling at Series A stage. The number of exits has steadily grown, with 22 exits recorded in the first half of 2024, says the report.

Raising capital in the early stages is less challenging

From 2018 to H1 2024, early-stage financing rounds accounted for around 77 per cent of capital raised by Belgian tech startups, compared to 42 per cent in Europe over the same period.

Survey results and interviews indicate that raising capital in the early business stages in Belgium have become less of a challenge, due to increased angel investment activity, amplifying the presence of early-stage VCs and a growing support network.

Software category greater than hardware

To shed light on the type of Belgian tech companies attracting funding in recent years, the total investment volume is 52 pe rcent for the software category, compared to 48 per cent for hardware (Belgium is slightly more exposed to the latter compared to Europe).

AI companies accounted for more than 70 per cent of the capital invested in H1 2024, while AI funding was only a minor share up until 2022.

Flanders receives a proportionate share

Flanders, which made up about 60 per cent of Belgium’s GDP in 2022, receives a proportionate share of tech startup investment, with 52 per cent of the total invested capital, states the report.

Within Flanders, the cities of Ghent and Antwerp are stand-outs, together consistently accounting for more than half of capital invested in the region, and 63 per cent of the total in Flanders in record year 2022

Brussels, despite contributing only 17 per cent to GDP, attracts 31 per cent of the cumulative capital over the 2018 to 2024 H1 period, whilst Wallonia comes in at 17 per cent.

Four unicorns in Belgium

So far, four ‘unicorns’ (companies with a $1B valuation or higher) have emerged in Belgium. They are team.blue, Collibra, Odoo, and Deliverect.

The share of foreign investor participation has been greater than that of Belgian investors for every year analysed between 2018 and H1 2024 and has amounted to 66 per cent on average since the year 2020.

Belgian VCs to raise over €400M

Belgian VCs are currently on track to clock fundraising at more than €400 million by the end of this year. Also in terms of the number of funds raised, there’s been a noticeable and steady upward trend, says the report.

While only two Belgian VC funds were raised in 2018, eight funds were raised in just the first half of 2024 alone, foreboding a record-breaking year.

“Pushing the Belgian tech ecosystem further to the next level is Syndicate One’s raison d’être. Besides strengthening the connective tissue in our ecosystem by uniting existing players and investing in new ones, we provide tools for anyone who aims to improve it. We believe this report can be a map of the ecosystem for entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers to make better, more informed decisions. We are honoured to partner with Sofina and Bain & Company to present it to you,” says Laurens De Poorter, Founder of Syndicate One.

“At Sofina, we back entrepreneurs with patient capital and supportive advice. We have done this across cycles and across generations of business leaders, in our home country and globally, in technology and other growth sectors. To bring this experience and our networks

to bear for the success of innovative tech entrepreneurs in Belgium is natural. We have talent here, with great successes, but it also feels like the community is just getting started,” says Giulia Van Waeyenberge (Managing Director, Sofina).