Theodorus

Managing Partner Olivier Belenger and Partner Lotfi Yelles Chaouche lead deal sourcing, structuring, and portfolio oversight. An independent Investment Committee composed of external experts in life sciences, high-tech, intellectual property, and venture capital makes the final approval decision. The LPAC, staffed with shareholder representatives, monitors fund governance separately from the investment committee.

Theodorus holds a contractual priority-access right to Université Libre de Bruxelles research output and spin-offs. It works alongside ULB’s Technology Transfer Office and campus incubators to identify and mature projects before incorporation. In Quebec, the firm has structured equivalent partnerships with Univalor, Aligo, Sovar, and research consortia such as MEDTEQ and CQDM.

It operates as an independent fund manager. Although Theodorus I was created as an evergreen vehicle by ULB, all subsequent funds are closed-end structures with external institutional limited partners. The Investment Committee is independent of the university, ensuring decisions are driven by commercial potential rather than academic affiliation.

Theodorus generally acts as lead investor at the seed stage, writing an initial check between €250,000 and €2.5 million. It then syndicates follow-on rounds to a network of co-investors, reporting an average leverage of twelve euros of total capital raised for every euro it deploys. Its role is often to bridge the gap between research institution spin-out and later-stage venture or corporate buyers.

The firm is sector-focused rather than avoidance-driven, but its thesis excludes projects without a defensible proprietary technology or university research foundation. It does not fund consumer internet, generalist SaaS, or capital-light services businesses; its entire portfolio sits in biotech, medtech, digital applications, and engineering.

The Montreal office was opened to deploy Theodorus IV into Quebec-based spin-offs, mirroring the ULB model with local universities and research commercialization entities. With backers such as the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Teralys Capital, the office aims to back around twenty early-stage Belgian and Canadian companies, while also helping Belgian portfolio companies expand into North America.

Confirmed exits include Ogeda (sold to Astellas Pharma in April 2017), Euro Heat Pipes (acquired by Airbus Defence and Space in 2017), and MaSTherCell (acquired by Catalent in February 2020). These trade-sale exits demonstrate a strategy that builds companies to a point where large corporate acquirers take over later-stage development and commercialization, rather than holding out for independent IPOs.