The Startup Ecosystem of Leuven

Leuven boasts 31 startups in our sample database which represents about 6% of Belgium’s sampled startups. Leuven is the 4th best startup ecosystem in Belgium.

CITY RANKING

While Leuven decreased by 16 spots in its global rank in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index of 2022, its ranking in Belgium remained stable at 4 nationally since 2021.

National Ranking

4th
0
In Belgium

Regional Ranking

99th
-
8
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

327th
-
16
Worldwide
Free Dashboard
Pro Dashboard

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of Leuven

Download the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 

Understand our ranking methodology and get the latest insights on the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1000 cities around the world!

Download

Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Leuven

Startups in Leuven excel in Health, Software and Data, and and Fintech. There are some notable success stories contributing to the city’s growing Health industry. One of the most promising startups in Leuven in 2022 is GuardSquare, THEO Technologies, and Cumul.io.

Global Rank

Leuven is ranked within the top 400 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

Leuven’s startups excel particularly in Health where it ranks 229 and in Software and Data, and Fintech. Find out more

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:
2022 National Rank & Change ▲
2022 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
59th
+
13
10.534
1.51
5.77
3.26
2nd
0
149th
+
9
5.160
0.56
1.89
2.72
3rd
0
255th
-
18
2.902
0.35
0.33
2.22
4th
0
327th
-
16
1.678
0.15
0.25
1.28
5th
new
384th
new
1.302
0.03
0.27
1.00
6th
-
1
406th
-
16
1.159
0.09
0.18
0.89
7th
new
553rd
new
0.587
0.03
0.11
0.45
8th
+
1
590th
+
257
0.517
0.04
0.08
0.40
9th
-
3
598th
-
55
0.507
0.05
0.07
0.39
10th
-
2
773rd
-
72
0.296
0.03
0.04
0.23
Page out of 2

Startups

Notable Startups in Leuven
GuardSquare startup icon
GuardSquare
THEO Technologies startup icon
THEO Technologies
Cumul.io startup icon
Cumul.io

Startups

Successful Health startups in Leuven
icometrix startup icon
icometrix
miDiagnostics startup icon
miDiagnostics
LynxCare startup icon
LynxCare

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Health icon
Health
#229 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 13 startups for Health.

Software and Data icon
Software and Data
#232 worldwide

In Western Europe, Leuven's Software and Data is in top 232. Leuven has a concentration of about 0% of the country's total Software and Data startups that are represented on our map.

Fintech icon
Fintech
4 startups

Our database contains 4 startups for this industry.

Explore More

ECOSYSTEM

Why should you join Leuven's Startup Ecosystem?

Overview

Within Leuven there is an increased attraction for entrepreneurs to set up their startups in industries such as Health, Software and Data, Fintech. These three industries represent about 81% of the startups represented on the Startup Ecosystem Map of Leuven.

4th

National Rank

99th

Regional Rank

Overview

Leuven is Belgium's 4th best startup ecosystem and is ranked 99th in Western Europe. With a population of 0.1M - 0.5M people, Leuven is ranked th in the world. The city boasts some notable startup success stories including GuardSquare.

Featured Ecosystem Portals

Go to portal
Go to portal

Work with us

If you are a startup ecosystem developer in Leuven, you can grow your startup economy by becoming a partner.

Find out more

BLOG

Recent Posts

Tue Mar 14 2023

EP 33: Do Small Countries Have an Edge in Building a startup Ecosystem?

Do small countries have an edge in building a startup ecosystem? In this episode, the StartupBlink team and Eli David discuss the unique advantages of small countries for building a thriving ecosystem. In StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2022, 9 out of the top 20 highest-ranked countries had a population of less than 10 million, […]

Wed Mar 08 2023

How can collaborating with StartupBlink as an ecosystem partner help your ecosystem and organization?

Collaborating with StartupBlink as a data partner can bring a range of benefits to your organization and ecosystem. As the most comprehensive startup ecosystem map and research center, we publish the Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report (GSEI) annually, ranking the top 1,000 cities and 100 countries worldwide.  StartupBlink’s GSEI is based on an elaborate algorithm […]

Tue Feb 28 2023

The Top 30 Countries by Absolute Power in 2022

What is Absolute Power? Generally, StartupBlink’s GSEI scoring algorithm calibrates the countries’ total score to their population size to check the startup outputs of countries per capita.   The “Absolute Power” algorithm ignores the size of the population and looks at the absolute amount of startup output per country to compare their dominance regardless of population […]