AI drove Belgian startup funding near €500M in H1 2024, report finds

Private capital investment in Belgian startups has exceeded €470mn in the first half of 2024, compared to a total of €424mn in 2023. At the current rate of spending, the country’s tech ecosystem is heading for a record funding year.

That’s according to the State of Belgian Tech Report, published today. It combines data from Dealroom, a survey of over 130 startup founders, and interviews with Belgian entrepreneurs and investors.

According to the findings, the average amount of investment per round per stage has steadily increased between 2018 and 2024 to date. It has tripled at the seed and Series B stages and more than doubled at Series A.

AI dominates investments

Reflecting a wider European (and global) trend, AI startups attracted over 70% of the total capital invested in H1 2024.

This was driven by a number of larger rounds by companies including TechWolf and Robovision, which secured investments of $42.7mn and $42mn, respectively.

Other sectors that attracted investment are energy, professional services, and consumer goods.

Sings of a maturing ecosystem

According to the report, the gradual increase in startup funding since 2018 is a signs that the Belgian ecosystem is entering a maturation phase.

Another indication is a steady growth in exits, which rose from 13 in 2018 to 31 in 2022 and 36 in 2023. This year has seen 22 exits so far. Belgium also counts four home-grown unicorns: Collibra, Odoo, Deliverect, and team.blue. The latter reached a €4.8bn valuation in July.

There’s also a continuous inflow of capital from foreign investors (accounting on average for 66% of the total funding since 2020), while there’s a renewed momentum among local funds and VCs.

In 2024 to date, Belgian VCs have raised over €200mn in new funds and are projected to close the year with over double the amount.

Nevertheless, difficulties still remain in the ecosystem’s journey towards maturity — especially when it comes to scaling and late-stage growth.

Tellingly, in the past six years, early-stage funding rounds account for approximately 77% of the total capital raised by Belgian startups. That’s compared to 42% in Europe as a whole.

“The challenges are clear, and they’re not that different from other ecosystems in this early maturation phase,” Robin Wauters, founding member of Belgian VC firm Syndicate One and co-author of the report, told TNW.

One such challenge is attracting senior talent.

“Anything that can be done to make it easier for founders to recruit, retain, and reward that talent will enable the ecosystem as a whole to move to the next level,” Wauters said.

In addition to talent, the availability of growth capital and government reforms for businesses  can deliver “a good mix of elements that level up Belgian tech,” he said.

Ecosystems is one of the main themes at next year’s TNW Conference. Early birds can now buy 2-for-1 tickets for the June event.