Flemish start-ups and scale-ups stronger on the international map

Giving Flemish technology an international face more than ever. With that in mind, the Flemish government is launching the digital platform "Flanders Tech Ecosystem," in collaboration with data specialist Dealroom. In addition to an overview of the local start-up ecosystem, the platform links promising Flemish tech actors to potential investors, incubators and other players in the ecosystem. 

The Flemish tech landscape today counts more than 2,000 start-ups, accounting for a total enterprise value of some 32 billion euros. 2021 was a record year for venture capital investments: Flemish start-ups raised over 558 million euros last year. That's a tripling in five years. Some 3.3% of Flemish GDP flows into Research & Development (R&D). This makes Flanders one of the European leaders in terms of R&D funding. As the Flemish start-up and scale-up ecosystem matures, it is right and even necessary for the government to step up its efforts to better position these companies internationally and to make foreign companies look more emphatically at Flanders. Initiatives that highlight and strengthen our ecosystem can only be welcomed.

Incidentally, the initiative is not just limited to a data platform. Later this year, 'Start-up Flanders' will also launch a new brand and a specialized program to position our start-up ecosystem more clearly abroad. Examples such as 'Techleap.nl' (Netherlands) and 'La French Tech' (France) served as inspiration. Agoria and Sirris have already been closely involved over the past few months in developing the content of the 'Start-up Flanders' story, and will help foreign scale-ups that open an antenna in our region to expand their business in Flanders through the 'Scale-up Flanders' program, among others.

Flanders Tech Ecosystem (flanders.dealroom.co) is more than an open-access database. Based on objective data and in full transparency, the platform provides a detailed picture of the nearly 2,200 start-ups in Flanders. Thus, it offers relevant info on the activities, capital rounds, valuations and business potential of Flemish tech players in numerous innovation domains, including glowing names such as argenx, Ablynx, Deliverect, Galapagos and team.blue. But new start-ups are also gaining visibility through the platform. At the same time, the platform is a powerful tool to connect start-ups and allows spotting promising companies. In short, an interesting asset to help Flemish start-ups grow internationally, to make the Flemish start-up world better known worldwide, to support talented entrepreneurs and developers and to attract investors. 

By joining the Dealroom community, FIT connects the Flemish startup ecosystem with similar initiatives in over 30 tech nations, regions and cities. From France (La French Tech), the UK (Tech Nation), Canada (Start Alberta) and the US (Atlanta) to the Netherlands (Techleap.nl), Sweden (Startup Sweden) and the German cities of Berlin and Munich. In this way, the platform helps tech companies explore more and faster opportunities for international trade, investment and collaborations.