Leuven · Pre-Seed–Series A · 14 people tracked
Investment thesis
imec.xpand backs transformative semiconductor and nanotechnology innovations where imec's contributions can decisively influence the success of technology development. The fund targets early-stage deeptech companies, drawing on deep technological expertise and a hands-on approach. Its close connections to imec position the team to accurately assess technology risk in complex, science-driven ventures.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 14 people
from the firm's website & curated & public directoriesWhat they invest in
from 24 of 57 portfolio companiesDeep Tech ×18Hardware ×15Semiconductors ×13AI & Machine Learning ×6Medical Devices ×5Healthtech ×3Biotech ×2Digital Health ×2
HQs:Netherlands×3United States×3Australia×1Switzerland×1Germany×1Spain×1
Investments · 57 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathAxelera AI develops hardware and software platforms for artificial intelligence inference at the edge, including specialized processors and accelerators for edge computing, computer vision, natural language processing, and automotive applications.
AI & Machine LearningHardwareSemiconductors
Fabrizio Del MaffeoinEvangelos Eleftheriou(Founder)
Co-investorsInnovation IndustriesSamsung Catalyst FundVerve VenturesBlackRockEuropean Innovation Council FundInvest-NL+1 more
Axithra develops a photonics-based device using Raman spectroscopy on a chip to measure the free, active fraction of drugs in patient blood for bedside therapeutic drug monitoring.
Deep TechHealthtechMedical Devices
Co-investorsKurma PartnersQbic FundWhite FundWallonie Entreprendre
Co-investorsElaia
The page describes Photonic Fabric, an optical interconnect technology platform for the scale-up interconnect market that enables high-bandwidth, power-efficient links for AI data center infrastructure.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechSector AgnosticSemiconductorsSanta Clara, US
Preetinder Virk(Chief Operating Officer)David Lazovsky(President and Chief Executive Officer)Kelyn Brannon(Chief Financial Officer)Philip Winterbottom(Chief Technology Officer)
BoardLip-Bu Tan(Director)Alonso Galvan(Director)
Co-investorsFitz Gate VenturesIAG Capital PartnersKoch Disruptive TechnologiesM VenturesSamsung Catalyst FundThe Engine Ventures+2 more
Diraq develops quantum computers based on modified silicon transistors, aiming for utility-scale quantum processing units the size of a single data-center rack.
Deep TechHardwareQuantum Computing
Co-investorsQuantonationIn-Q-TelUniSeed Pty Ltd.
eyeo develops image sensors based on its proprietary NCOS (Nanophotonic Color Splitting) technology, which uses nano-photonic structures to split light and direct wavelengths to sensor pixels without the light loss of traditional color filters.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Fabric8Labs develops Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing (ECAM), a room-temperature metal 3D printing technology that produces dense, high-purity metal parts with micron-scale resolution and no post-processing.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardwareSemiconductorsSan Diego, US
Jeffrey Herman(Executive Officer, Director)David Pain(Director)in
BoardCyril Vancura(Director)inGreg Papadopoulos(Director)inJennifer Ard(Director)in
Co-investorsIntel CapitalLam CapitalMarunouchi Innovation PartnersSE VenturesEricsson VenturesTDK Ventures+5 more
FMC (Ferroelectric Memory Company) develops ferroelectric-based persistent memory technologies, including DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+, aimed at AI scale-out and critical infrastructure.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsDresden, DE
Co-investorsBosch VenturesDeepTech & Climate FondsRobert Bosch Venture CapitalTEL Venture Capital, Inc.HV CapitalM Ventures+3 more
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics develops graphene-based brain-computer therapeutics that combine neural signal decoding with AI to enable precision, adaptive treatments for neurological disorders.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechMedical DevicesBarcelona, ES
Carolina Aguilar(CEO & Co-Founder)Kostas Kostarelos(Chair of the Vision Board & Co-Founder)Antòn Guimerà(Co-founder)Jerome Crocco(COO)Jurriaan Bakker(CTO)Eduard Ros(Interim CFO)
Co-investorsAsabys PartnersBStartupVsquared VenturesAliath Bioventures
Indigo is developing an implantable continuous multi-metabolite monitoring (CMM) sensor based on silicon photonics that measures metabolites such as glucose, ketone, and lactate in real time, with data shown via a smartphone app.
Digital HealthHardwareMedical Devices
Danaë Delbeke(CTO and Founder)
Co-investorsFund+
LUMA Vision develops health-tech combining hardware, software, and machine learning to provide physicians with data-driven imaging and decision-support tools.
AI & Machine LearningHealthtechMedical Devices
Co-investorsAtlantic Bridge VenturesBayern Kapital
Morrow Eyewear develops electronic progressive lenses (e-Progressives) and eyewear frames designed for people with presbyopia, aiming to improve intermediate and near vision comfort.
ConsumerHardwareWellness & Fitness
Co-investorsNew Science Ventures
Nagi Bioscience provides automated in vivo testing using the C. elegans model to measure lifespan, healthspan, and biological age, offered as both an on-site platform (SydLab One) and contract research services.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechLongevity
Co-investorsExcellis HoldingVerve Ventures
Co-investorsMatrix
Onera Health provides clinical-grade remote diagnostics and monitoring solutions for healthcare professionals, with an initial focus on sleep health.
Digital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesEindhoven, NL
Co-investors15th RockEQT Life SciencesLSP (Life Sciences Partners)Innovation Industries
Optalysys is a photonic computing company using silicon photonics to turn the optical layer into an arithmetic engine for high-performance computing.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsLeeds, GB
Co-investorsAnglia Capital GroupNorthern GritstoneVerve Ventures
PsiQuantum builds fault-tolerant quantum computers using photonic qubits and semiconductor manufacturing processes.
Deep TechHardwareQuantum ComputingSemiconductorsMoreton Bay, AU
Prof. Jeremy O'Brien(Co-founder & Executive Chairman)Prof. Terry Rudolph(Co-founder & Chief Architect)Dr. Pete Shadbolt(Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer)Prof. Mark Thompson(Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer)Jeremy O'Brien(Founder)inPete Shadbolt(Director)
Co-investorsBlackbird VenturesC4 VenturesCold Start VenturesFounders FundFPVHARPER COURT VENTURES+23 more
SCIL develops high-volume imprint (nanoimprint) lithography systems for photonics and optics manufacturing, offering feature resolution down to 10 nanometers on wafers up to 300mm.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductorsEindhoven, NL
Rob Voorkamp(Founder)
Co-investorsBOM
Solithor develops solid-state lithium battery technology based on a proprietary sol-gel-derived Solid Composite Electrolyte (SCE) platform and a roll-to-roll process that lets Li-ion manufacturers adopt solid-state architecture.
CleantechDeep TechEnergy
Spectricity develops chip-size multispectral image sensors for smartphones and consumer electronics, aimed at improving color accuracy and enabling applications such as automatic white balancing, skin analysis, and wound monitoring.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Co-investorsCapricorn Venture Partners
Swave develops HXR spatial computing display technology that produces real holographic augmented reality by blending digital and physical environments.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Co-investorsAcequia Capital (AceCap)
Vertical Compute is a European deep-tech startup developing chiplets that place vertical columns of data directly next to processing cores, using vertical memory concepts combined with nano-magnetism to accelerate AI workloads.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Sylvain Dubois(Founder)
Co-investorsXAngeQuantonation
Wise Integration is a fabless deeptech company developing digitally-controlled gallium nitride (GaN) power integrated circuits and digital controllers for high-frequency, high-efficiency power conversion.
Deep TechHardwareSemiconductors
Ghislain Kaiser(CEO)
Co-investorsSupernova Invest
xavveo develops photonic radar technology that transmits radar signals through fiber optics, using ultra-compact chip modules arranged into virtual antenna surfaces to produce high-resolution point clouds in all weather conditions.
Deep TechMobility & TransportationRobotics
Co-investorsVsquared Ventures
Zafrens develops a unified drug discovery platform that integrates isolation, imaging, and sequencing workflows to accelerate the identification of therapeutic compounds across modalities.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechSan Diego, US
Martin SmrcinainMaina NdunguinSwamy Vijayan(Executive Officer, Director)inYi ZhanginVikas Goelin
BoardJustin Briggsin
Co-investorsAcequia Capital (AceCap)BlueYard CapitalGlobal BrainHAWKTAILIaso VenturesRaptor Group+2 more
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Axelera AI · dispatcheseurope.com · Aug 18, 2026
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics · newmarketpitch.com · Jul 13, 2026
Xavveo · photonics.com · Jul 7, 2026
SCIL Nanoimprint Solutions · tamradar.com · Mar 24, 2026
FMC · datacenterdynamics.com · Mar 11, 2026
Fabric8Labs · sdbj.com · Dec 3, 2025
PsiQuantum · quantumcomputingreport.com · Sep 11, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has imec.xpand made?
- imec.xpand has 32 tracked investments.
- What stage does imec.xpand invest at?
- imec.xpand invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is imec.xpand's typical check size?
- imec.xpand typically writes checks of $270K – $5.4M.
- What sectors does imec.xpand focus on?
- imec.xpand focuses on Deep Tech, Hardware, New Materials, Semiconductors.
- Where is imec.xpand located?
- imec.xpand is headquartered in Leuven, BE.
- Does imec.xpand lead rounds?
- imec.xpand typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamPartner Cyril Vančura brings Silicon Valley Mindset to Europe’s imec.xpand
Corporate Venturing Insider · Cyril Vančura
Images
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