VIVES IUF

VIVES is a seed capital fund initiated by UCLouvain which invests in companies developing disruptive innovations with a positive societal impact.

Their third fund, VIVES Inter University Fund (VIVES IUF), created in summer 2020, is an early stage and multisectoral fund that invests in projects with a positive societal impact. With € 32M, it has the capacity to invest at the various stages of a company's development: seed, start-up and growth. The fund is involved in spin-offs from UCLouvain or its partner universities - KULeuven (BE), University of Paris Diderot Descartes (FR), University of Wageningen (NL), University of Luxembourg (LU) - and in start-ups -up located in a perimeter of 400 kilometers around Louvain-la-Neuve. These partnerships will allow VIVES IUF to access a regular flow of high quality innovations while relying on a network of multisectoral experts.

The investors of VIVES IUF are: SFPI-FPIM, Belfin, BNPP Fortis Private Equity, IMBC Spinnova, ING Belgium, Investsud, Namur Invest, Invest.BW, finance & invest.brussels (SRIB), Sambrinvest, Securex, two family offices, Sopartec and its team Management.
For more than 15 years, VIVES has invested in companies active in all technological sectors.
VIVES is managed by Sopartec, UCLouvain's technology transfer company and member of the Louvain Technology Transfer Office (LTTO).

The European high-tech early-stage fund VIVES IUF (inter-university fund) has revealed that it has received an additional €38 million in cash, increasing its total funding to €70 million to fund 10 startups. The European Investment Fund (EIF), along with both new and existing blue-chip investors, pledged €25 million.

VIVES IUF, founded by UCLouvain, plays a key role in bringing together public and private investors with innovative enterprises and scholarly research.

By filling the early financing gap, VIVES IUF helps companies and academic research become profitable, high-impact ventures.

Five prestigious European universities—UCLouvain (BE), KULeuven (BE), Université de Paris (FR), Wageningen Universiteit (NL), and Université du Luxembourg (LU)—are partners with VIVES IUF, a cross-border fund. Additionally, VIVES IUF has access to a sophisticated startup pipeline.

The €70 million fund connects academic research with investors, supporting high-impact ventures.

Portfolio: CISSOID, Spinovit, Botalys, Viridaxis.