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A working prototype can travel across Europe more easily than the business behind it. For a young technology company, entering another country means finding new investors, understanding different rules and building relationships with customers and industry partners. Belgian accelerator imec.istart wants to make that next step less of a fresh start. By extending its network to Spain, Germany and Bulgaria, it is building a support system spanning six European countries.
The expansion builds on existing programmes in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. Together, the network’s independently managed regional investment funds represent more than €160 million in investment capacity, according to imec.istart. Its ambition is to increase that capacity to more than €250 million by 2027.
That figure describes the combined capacity of the regional funds. It is not a newly announced €250 million fund, nor money already invested in startups. The distinction matters: the organisation’s approach depends on connecting locally rooted programmes and capital, with each fund retaining its own management. “Our founders already think beyond borders. The ecosystem supporting them should do the same,” says Sven De Cleyn, programme director at imec.istart.
A network that travels with the founder
De Cleyn’s diagnosis is that Europe’s startup problem extends beyond the availability of funding. National markets still separate expertise, capital and business relationships. A founder who has assembled a useful network at home can find that much of the work needs to be repeated abroad.
The accelerator’s answer is to make those local networks accessible through a shared European structure. In principle, a company entering another participating market should arrive with routes to relevant investors, advisers and industry contacts already available.
For applied deep-tech businesses, that promise has a practical appeal. Getting a technology to work is one challenge; finding a customer willing to test it, turning that test into a commercial relationship and financing further development are others. Connections to the right industrial partner can help a founder discover what a market actually needs.
The proposed advantage is continuity: support that remains useful as the company’s ambitions grow beyond its first market.
Local partners, different funding models
The network is being built with regional organisations. These include Novel-T in the Netherlands, Pariter Partners in Italy, and Additio Capital, Eurecat and Mobile World Capital in Spain. In Germany, Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Skilled Crafts and Tourism supports the programme. C3BG is the partner in Bulgaria.
The country programmes share imec.istart’s acceleration methodology, coaching resources and international investor network. Their financial offers can differ substantially.
In Spain, the published offer includes €250,000 in pre-seed funding in exchange for equity: 10% for hardware startups and 15% for software startups. It combines that investment with an 18-month acceleration programme.
Germany’s programme uses public funding. Eligible startups can receive €50,000 to €100,000 without giving up equity, alongside 12 to 18 months of support. Companies must be headquartered in Germany and have meaningful business activities in Baden-Württemberg.
The rollout is already under way. The first German cohort kicked off in Heilbronn this summer, with five startups working in areas including manufacturing, health technology and satellite infrastructure. Spain has an application round open until 31 October; Germany’s next advertised call runs in February 2027. Bulgaria is listed as coming soon.
From early backing to the next investment round
Founded in 2011 as part of research and innovation organisation imec, imec.istart combines early funding with coaching and introductions to investors and industry partners. It targets digital and applied deep-tech founders working to turn their technology into a business.
According to its latest announcement, the accelerator has supported more than 380 startups. Those companies have collectively raised over €1.25 billion in follow-on funding from external investors. Alumni include DataCamp, Payflip, Octave and Deliverect.
Those figures demonstrate the reach of its portfolio, although they do not establish how much of the companies’ subsequent growth can be attributed to the programme. The next test is whether its experience in supporting individual startups can translate into effective connections between national ecosystems.
That is where this expansion becomes interesting beyond the three additional countries. A larger map offers founders little on its own. The value will emerge when a relationship built in one country helps a company win a customer, find expertise or raise its next round in another. For imec.istart, that is the promise to deliver: making international growth feel less like starting over.