Qbic Fund
Who they are
Qbic Fund is a Ghent-based seed and early-stage venture capital fund — founded in 2012 to back spin-offs from Belgian universities, research institutions, and hospitals across High Tech, Life Sciences, and HealthTech.
Person
Qbic Fund was founded in 2012 in Ghent, Belgium, with a focused mandate: back spin-offs and early-stage startups emerging from Belgian universities, research institutions, and hospitals. Its thesis runs across three verticals — High Tech, Life Sciences, and HealthTech — with capital deployed at the pre-seed and seed stages, a gap that is still thinly served in Belgium's innovation economy. The fund operates multiple vehicles, with Qbic III being the active fund making current investments. Recent deals include co-leading the seed and seed extension rounds for VoxelSensors and providing pre-seed capital to Weave.ly and Innocens. Qbic publishes deal announcements and portfolio updates on qbic.be/nieuws, with occasional LinkedIn posts on pharma, biotech, and innovation themes. Possibly — the long tenure since 2012 suggests the team has been through multiple fund cycles and has deep relationships with the Belgian academic and hospital ecosystem.
Company
Qbic Fund's most recent visible activity is its Qbic III vehicle, which co-led the seed round and a subsequent seed extension in VoxelSensors, and wrote pre-seed checks into Weave.ly and Innocens. The fund's investment thesis anchors explicitly to spin-offs from Belgian universities, research institutions, and hospitals — a sourcing edge that filters for deep-tech and life sciences assets before they reach broader European VC. Danny Gonnissen is associated with the Newton BioCapital I Fund alongside Qbic, suggesting the team manages or advises parallel vehicles. Qbic also maintains active partnerships with Aloxy and the Biotope Incubator, pointing to a hands-on, ecosystem-embedded operating style rather than a purely passive capital role.
Market
Qbic operates in Belgium's early-stage deep-tech and life sciences VC market, where deal flow is heavily tied to academic spin-off pipelines from institutions like KU Leuven, Ghent University, and VIB. Competition for the best spin-outs comes from funds like Imec.xpand, PMV, and Novalis BioCapital, as well as pan-European seed funds increasingly active in Belgium. The fund's focus on pre-seed and seed in High Tech, Life Sciences, and HealthTech positions it in a segment where institutional sourcing relationships — with hospitals and research labs — are a durable advantage.
Network
Danny Gonnissen is the named individual associated with Qbic, connected to the Newton BioCapital I Fund as a parallel managed vehicle. Portfolio partnerships include Aloxy and the Biotope Incubator, indicating an embedded network within the Belgian deep-tech and life sciences startup ecosystem. No additional named partners or co-investors are surfaced in the available claims.
- Danny Gonnissen· Associated fund manager — Newton BioCapital I Fund
How they likely show up
- Founded in 2012 and still active with a third fund vehicle (Qbic III) → long institutional memory; likely evaluates founders against a multi-cycle view of what Belgian deep-tech spin-offs need to survive.
- Explicit focus on university, research institution, and hospital spin-offs → sourcing is relationship-driven, not inbound funnel-driven; warm introductions from academic partners almost certainly matter.
- Partnerships with Aloxy and Biotope Incubator alongside investment activity → operates as an ecosystem participant, not just a capital provider; probably expects portfolio companies to engage with the broader network.
- Possibly — long tenure signal suggests a patient capital orientation, consistent with life sciences and deep-tech timelines that routinely run 7-10 years to exit.
- Occasional public writing on qbic.be and LinkedIn, focused on deal announcements rather than opinion pieces → not building a media brand; the team lets portfolio outcomes do the talking.
Conversation tips
- → Reference a specific portfolio company — VoxelSensors, Weave.ly, or Innocens — rather than speaking generically about the fund; they'll respond to demonstrated deal-level knowledge.
- → Frame any pitch or collaboration around the academic or hospital spin-off angle; that's the explicit thesis, and a deal that fits that sourcing logic will land faster than a pure market-opportunity story.
- → Ask about the Qbic III vintage specifically — understanding which fund is actively deploying versus harvesting tells you how much bandwidth the team has for new relationships.
- → Biotope Incubator and Aloxy partnerships signal ecosystem thinking; mentioning shared portfolio or incubator relationships is a credible warm-up.
- → Don't expect a rapid response to cold outreach — the team's sourcing is relationship-first; a connector introduction from a Belgian academic institution or research partner carries far more weight.
Toolbox
Openers
- Open on the VoxelSensors co-led seed and seed extension — it's the most recent named deal and signals Qbic's willingness to double down into a round, which tells you something specific about their conviction model.
- Reference the Biotope Incubator partnership — Qbic is listed as a partner, so asking how they use that relationship for deal flow surfaces their sourcing philosophy without asking a generic 'how do you find deals' question.
- Mention the Qbic III pre-seed strategy (Weave.ly, Innocens) — writing checks at that stage is still unusual in Belgium, and the decision to go that early is a pointed thesis worth exploring.
Discovery questions
- How does the spin-off sourcing process actually work in practice — do universities bring deals to you, or does Qbic have embedded scouts inside the research institutions?
- With Qbic III running pre-seed and seed deals simultaneously, how does the team think about check-size discipline when a portfolio company like VoxelSensors warrants a follow-on?
- The Biotope Incubator and Aloxy partnerships suggest you stay active post-investment — what does that involvement actually look like for a company in the first 18 months after funding?
Avoid
Don't pitch a consumer or B2C opportunity — Qbic's entire stated thesis is institutional deep-tech and life sciences spin-offs from Belgian research infrastructure, and anything outside that frame will read as a mismatch immediately.
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Sources
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Try Brief →Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on July 16, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.
Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →