Imec.xpand

Managing Partner Pieter Vion leads the investment team, alongside Partner Maarten den Braber. The partnership team makes all final investment decisions, drawing on imec's technology expertise when evaluating deep-tech deals.

The firm benefits from an exclusive pipeline of startups emerging from imec's own research labs and incubation programs. It also screens external deep-tech opportunities within its focus sectors, but the core deal flow originates from imec's ecosystem.

Imec.xpand operates as a specialized venture capital firm, not a family office. It manages third-party capital from institutional investors alongside strategic commitments from imec, and its structure is that of a regulated asset manager.

The firm invests across seed, Series A, and growth-stage rounds in deep-tech companies. It often leads or co-leads early rounds and continues to support successful portfolio companies through later-stage expansions.

The firm concentrates on deep technologies including semiconductors, nanotechnology, digital health, AI, and photonics. It explicitly avoids consumer internet, fintech, or software-as-a-service companies that lack a hard-science foundation.

Imec.xpand primarily makes direct equity investments into individual portfolio companies. It does not typically act as a fund-of-funds or commit capital to other venture funds, though it may co-invest alongside syndicate partners.

Imec.xpand manages capital raised from external institutional limited partners, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and corporate investors. Imec itself remains a strategic anchor investor but does not disclose its specific contribution.