The Startup Ecosystem of Belgium

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.