About imec.xpand
imec.xpand is a venture capital firm founded in 2017. It is primarily based out of Leuven, Belgium. As of May 2026, imec.xpand is an active investor, having invested in 32 companies, with 4 new investments in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in Belgium based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from HealthTech to High Tech and Life Sciences. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of eyeo Overall, imec.xpand portfolio has seen 1 unicorn and 2 acquisitions, namely PsiQuantum, Celestial AI and Nubis. A lot of funds co-invest with imec.xpand, with names like Imec sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. imec.xpand has team of 18 people including 9 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 1 more
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Portfolio Soonicorns
Deals in last 12 months
imec.xpand's List of Top Investments
imec.xpand has a portfolio of 32 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in eyeo and Pharrowtech.Their portfolio spans across Belgium, United States, Netherlands and 5 more locations. They have invested in HealthTech, High Tech, Life Sciences and 6 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 1 more. Here is the list of top investments by imec.xpand:
1. PsiQuantum
Developer of photon-based universal quantum computers. It uses photonic technology to develop error-corrected general-purpose quantum computers. It has applications in drug discovery, personalized medicine, artificial intelligence, and materials sciences.
Key facts about PsiQuantum
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Palo Alto (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series E
- Total Funding till date: $2.32B
- Employee Count: 614 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: Temasek, Baillie Gifford and 36 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Sep 10, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Mojo Vision
Developer of AR-based monochrome display. It is developing an augmented reality-based computing platform that claims to deliver relevant information without the intrusions of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, or wearables. Its chief offering is a tiny monochrome display, featuring multiple density pixels per square inch. It can be placed close to the eye and the company claims that the same's pixel density is about greater than the standard phone screen and denser than those displays found on other VR headsets
Key facts about Mojo Vision
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Saratoga (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $319M
- Employee Count: 102 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: AME Cloud Ventures, MacDonald Ventures and 48 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Mar 25, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Celestial AI
Developer of optical interconnect technology for artificial intelligence infrastructure systems. The company’s technology aims to improve artificial intelligence system performance through optical interconnectivity. It focuses on enabling efficient scaling of artificial intelligence to advance progress in various fields. The company’s platform is designed for integration into next-generation artificial intelligence systems.
Key facts about Celestial AI
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Santa Clara (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $589M
- Employee Count: 70 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Fidelity Investments, Samsung Catalyst Fund and 21 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Feb 25, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
4. Axelera AI
Manufacturer of hardware accelerators and software for artificial intelligence inference. Products include processing units designed for edge computing applications, available in various form factors such as cards and boards. The associated software development kit enables the deployment of neural networks on these hardware platforms. These components facilitate data analysis and machine learning tasks for systems requiring local processing capabilities.
Key facts about Axelera AI
- Founded Year: 2021
- Location: Eindhoven (Netherlands)
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $450M
- Employee Count: 264 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Samsung Catalyst Fund, BlackRock and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Feb 24, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Developer of implantable neurotechnology for decoding and modulating brain activity. The company focuses on creating bi-directional, high-resolution brain-computer interfaces. These interfaces enable real-time smart neural decoding and modulation in closed loop. The company's platform combines hardware and data analytics to personalize therapy.
Key facts about INBRAIN Neuroelectronics
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Barcelona (Spain)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $82.8M
- Employee Count: 115 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: TruVenturo, European Investment Bank and 16 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), May 09, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
imec.xpand's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
imec.xpand has invested in 32 companies over the last 8 years, with an average of 4 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 7 investments, while as of May 2026, it has made 3 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Optalysys and most recent follow-on round was in eyeo.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2025 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
2024 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
2023 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
2022 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
2021 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
2020 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2019 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
imec.xpand's Investments by Stage
imec.xpand has made 12 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $9.59M, 11 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $22.8M and 6 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $40.6M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 12 |
Series A | 11 |
Series B | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
imec.xpand's Investments by Sector
imec.xpand has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Semiconductors, High Tech, Life Sciences, Internet of Things - Industry Applications and HealthTech. Notably, it has invested in 27 Tech companies, 26 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 21 Tech hardware companies and at least 4 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Semiconductors | 15 |
High Tech | 13 |
Life Sciences | 10 |
Internet of Things - Industry Applications | 6 |
HealthTech | 3 |
Others | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
imec.xpand's Investments by Geography
imec.xpand has made most investments in Belgium (10), followed by United States where it has made 7 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Belgium | 10 |
United States | 7 |
Netherlands | 4 |
Germany | 3 |
France | 1 |
Others | 3 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
imec.xpand's recent investments
imec.xpand has made 3 investments in 2026 so far. eyeo and Verticalcompute are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by imec.xpand:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 11, 2026 | Netherlands | Series A | 6915 | ||
Mar 04, 2026 | Belgium | Seed | 5893 | [+11] | |
Jan 22, 2026 | United Kingdom | Series A | 7681 | [+2] | |
Sep 04, 2025 | United States | Series B | 3444 | [+9] | |
Aug 26, 2025 | United States | Series B | 3655 | [+5] |
Unicorns in imec.xpand's Portfolio
imec.xpand has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - PsiQuantum. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is PsiQuantum which became a unicorn in 2021, 4 years before imec.xpand first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in imec.xpand's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
72 | Developer of photon-based universal quantum computers | 2015 | Palo Alto | Series E | iauuimb |
Acquired companies in imec.xpand's Portfolio
2 companies from imec.xpand's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Celestial AI in Dec 2025 by Marvell for $*****.Here are imec.xpand's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 02, 2025 | Dec 15, 2021 | Series A | 1542 | |
Sep 22, 2025 | - | - | 3241 |
Team profile of imec.xpand
imec.xpand has a team of 18 members including 9 Partners and 3 Principals located in Belgium, Netherlands and 1 more location. imec.xpand's team sits on the board of 1 company.Here is a list of top team members in imec.xpand:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Tilburg | - | ||
Partner | Hasselt | - | ||
Partner | Leuven | - | ||
Partner | Leuven | - | ||
Partner | Leuven | - | ||
Partner | Leuven | |||
Partner | United States | - | ||
Partner | - | - | ||
Partner | - | - | - | |
Principal | Leuven | - | ||
Principal | Amsterdam | - |
Co-investors of imec.xpand
Over the past 8 years, 231 investors have co-invested in imec.xpand's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before imec.xpand: Europa, EIC Fund and 77 others have invested in rounds before imec.xpand. There are 5 companies where Europa has invested before imec.xpand and 2 companies where EIC Fund has invested before imec.xpand.
- Top Co-investors of imec.xpand: 76 investors entered a company along with imec.xpand. These include investors like Imec (5 companies).
- Invested after imec.xpand: A total of 76 investors have invested in imec.xpand's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include EIC Fund (6 companies), Europa (4 companies) and Innovation Industries (4 companies).
Recent News related to imec.xpand
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Imec Ventures Expands Operations into the United StatesElectronics Weekly•May 19, 2026•imec.istart, Imec, imec.xpand
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eyeo Secures €40 Million to Enhance Imaging Technology and Sensor PerformanceStartup Rise EU•May 11, 2026•Innovation Industries, eyeo, HTGF, Europa and 4 others
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Leeds tech firm raises £23m for commercialisation and USInsider Media•Jan 22, 2026•Northern Gritstone, Optalysys, Lingotto, imec.xpand and 2 others
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Q.ANT secures $18M to advance photonic AI infrastructureoptics.org•Oct 30, 2025•Q.ANT, imec.xpand, UVC Partners, Cherry Ventures
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Mojo Vision Secures $75M in Series B Prime Funding to Advance Micro-LED CommercializationSemiconductor Today•Sep 04, 2025•Mojo Vision, Vanedge Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Hyperlink Ventures and 12 others
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Q.ANT receives record funding in Europe for photonic computingEvertiq•Aug 26, 2025•Q.ANT, imec.xpand, UVC Partners, Cherry Ventures
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Celestial AI Closes $255M Series C1
FinSMEs•Aug 13, 2025•Celestial AI, Samsung Catalyst Fund, VentureTech Alliance, Usitfund and 12 others
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Q.ANT Secures €62M to Revolutionize Computing with Photonic ProcessingPresseBox•Aug 01, 2025•Q.ANT, imec.xpand, UVC Partners, Cherry Ventures and 6 others
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Q.ANT Secures €62 Million ($73 Million USD) Series A Funding to Advance Quantum Sensor Development and Commercialization
Quantum Computing Report•Jul 24, 2025•Q.ANT, Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, imec.xpand and 8 others
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Q.ANT raises $72M to transform AI computing with photonic processors.SiliconAngle•Jul 17, 2025•Q.ANT, Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, imec.xpand and 7 others
