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March 22, 2006
IMEC locks in capital for spinoffs
Belgium's IMEC, one of Europe leading semiconductor and microelectronics research institutes, now has a venture fund to seed spinoffs, according to EE Times. The fund is called Capital-E and it has €35.5M to invest in early-stage companies. And it has a contract that gives it first dibs on IMEC spinoffs.
Founded in 1984, it employs more than 1300 people and has expertise in solar cells, 200mm semiconductors, and high density packaging. In 2004, its annual sales were €159M. There have been about a dozen spinoffs from Imec in the last several years, including Sirius (acquired by Agilent) and Fillfactory (acquired Cypress Semiconductor).
A growing number of Europe's high tech research institutes are doing this kind of thing. It illustrates that they realize that there is a disconnect going on between the region's venture capital firms and the universities. The alarm:clock euro has been hearing for years from spinoff founders that there's a lack of venture money and support for commercializing breakthroughs. At the same time VCs, which have the know-how and the money to nurture early stage ventures, are often heard to be complaining about a lack of dealflow. Somehow the two groups have difficulties getting together.
Read - IMEC venture capital fund raises $43 million (eetimes)
Read - List of Imec spinoffs (imec web)
Posted on March 22, 2006 01:28 PM | Posted to Venture Capital | Permalink
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