The Startup Ecosystem of Belgium

Belgium has 10 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 22nd within the competitive global top 30.

COUNTRY RANKING

Belgium’s startup scene remains stable in 2023 on the 22nd position, despite losing 1 city in the global top 1000.

Population

11.6
Million

Regional Ranking

11th
0
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

22nd
0
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

green trees and brown and white concrete building during daytime
In 2020, Belgium joined the unicorn club with Collibra, a data intelligence platform. This major milestone for the ecosystem opened the way to other success stories, such as Odoo and Deliverect. Belgium, from its capital of Brussels, is the nerve center of the EU, creating an advantage for local startups that are close to major regional initiatives. While the country does not yet have a Startup Visa, it did set up an attractive Immigrant Entrepreneur Program which allows foreigners to invest in or set up a business in Belgium.


Helping the growing Belgian startup community is the country’s largest accelerator, Start it @KBC, which offers startups the support they need to scale internationally. Thanks to the country’s geography, which hosts most of the EU institutions, as well as Europe’s second largest maritime port in Antwerp, startups in Belgium are well positioned to expand into European and international markets. In fact, the country is a gateway to 500M consumers, and according to the WTO, Belgium is the 10th largest exporting country in the world. Despite the country’s small market size, its position and openness to the world make it a perfect test ground for new ideas.

While Brussels is the country’s entrepreneurial center, cities such as Ghent and Antwerp are attracting more recognition, partly due to the active involvement of the cities’ governments.

Belgium is preparing the digital transformation of its public and private sectors in the coming years. Together with Microsoft, the Belgian government announced the Digital AmBEtion, an investment plan that aims to have a positive impact on the economy and the startup landscape of the country.

Startups

Belgium Top Startup Industries

Healthtech icon
Healthtech
#14 worldwide

281 startups

Software & Data icon
Software & Data
#18 worldwide

84 startups

Energy & Environment icon
Energy & Environment
#24 worldwide

55 startups

Ecosystem HealthCheck

Belgium Ecosystem Health Check

The health check tables allow you to look at the performance Belgium has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...

  • Overperformance
  • Performance equal to global ranking
  • Underperformance
ParameterParameter Global rankParameter rank change since 2022ResultContribution to total scoreRank gain / loss due to parameter
Total Score22011.429100%0
Quantity Score18-13.14427.51%2
Sample size of startups20352627%3
Sample size of accelerators8-1600%0
Sample size of coworking spaces1202480%0
Community Score30N/A0.0580.51%0

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of Belgium

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Belgium

Our startup ecosystem map for Belgium includes a sample of 645 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 4 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 1 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

Belgium is ranked within the top 30 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

Belgium’s startup scene is best represented in Healthtech, Software & Data, and in Energy & and Environment.

Top Cities for Startups in Belgium - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal Score
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
Quantity Score
Quality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
72nd
-
13
8.730
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
131st
+
18
5.355
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
241st
+
14
2.046
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
289th
+
38
1.437
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
+
1
447th
-
41
0.667
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
-
1
551st
-
167
0.416
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
0
562nd
-
9
0.399
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
0
564th
+
26
0.395
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
0
629th
-
31
0.327
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
0
862nd
-
89
0.167
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in Belgium
Showpad startup icon
Showpad
UnifiedPost startup icon
UnifiedPost
Itsme startup icon
Itsme

Startups

Successful Healthtech startups in Belgium
Univercells startup icon
Univercells
eTheRNA immunotherapies startup icon
eTheRNA immunotherapies
Novadip Biosciences startup icon
Novadip Biosciences

Featured Startup Ecosystems

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