Start it @KBC expands its start-up offering together with KBC Securities: from idea to IPO
Brussels, 9 December 2025
KBC Group is investing €100 million through Start it @KBC to strengthen the Belgian start-up ecosystem. This investment also launches a new fund (the Start it Fund) aimed at early-stage financing for top-tier start-ups from the accelerator program, addressing a long-standing demand from founders. Thanks to this fund, these start-ups can count on capital and guidance to accelerate their growth. The very best will also have the opportunity to receive additional follow-up financing at a later stage.
In this way, KBC Securities and Start it @KBC together offer a unique trajectory: from the first ideas to a potential IPO.
More than 150: that’s how many scalable young companies Start it @KBC, founded in 2014, supports each year. In total, the accelerator has already coached more than 1,900 start-ups.
“Start it @KBC originated eleven years ago within KBC itself - from the same entrepreneurial DNA that lies at the core of our organization,” says Johan Thijs, CEO of KBC Group. “What began as a small initiative has grown into Belgium’s largest start-up ecosystem. Entrepreneurship is in our genes: KBC was co-founded by entrepreneurs and stimulates innovation both outside and within the organization. Today, we are among the most innovative and digital-driven banks in the world, and our close collaboration with Start it @KBC fuels that ambition every single day. With the new fund, we can now truly support founders from idea to IPO: we support them not only with knowledge and a network but also with capital tailored to their growth ambitions. Together, we are building an ecosystem where innovation, entrepreneurship, and international ambition take center stage. Our mission? To give entrepreneurs every opportunity to grow into the global players of tomorrow.”
“Every year, around 1,000 start-ups apply to join us, a number that continues to rise. This allows us to be increasingly selective, and quality continues to grow. For eleven years, we’ve been building an ecosystem with founders, for founders. We already had coaching, community, and a European ecosystem - only one thing was missing: investing ourselves at the early stage. We are now filling that gap, at the request of founders, and in a way that centers them,” says Lode Uytterschaut, founder and CEO of Start it @KBC.
Up to €450,000 in early-stage funding through the Start it Fund
The “noequity” philosophy at the start of the Start it @KBC program remains unchanged, but the opportunity to invest is now added through a new early-stage fund managed by Start it itself: the Start it Fund. While other accelerators offer small amounts at fixed terms at the start, the Start it Fund offers only the top 1% of all applications at the end of their program a larger sum, depending on the needs and stage of the start-up. Start-ups are entirely free to accept the funding. On average, the fund invests €300,000 at earlystage, although the amount may be higher in some cases.
"In addition to the capital, we offer an extra year of guidance within Start it @KBC. This allows us to match founders for one more year with our large national alumni network — entrepreneurs who have walked the same path or completed a successful exit." Lode Uytterschaut, Founder & CEO, Start it @KBC
Follow-up financing
The very best of the selected start-ups also have the chance to receive further follow-up financing of up to €5 million through KBC Securities.
“After the early-stage investment phase, the number of funds available in Belgium for those wanting to grow further is limited. With this new capital, we want to create a platform that helps these top-tier start-ups grow into stable scale-ups,” says Tim Derycke, Head of Investment Services & KBC Focus Fund at KBC Securities. “With KBC Securities, we offer not only follow-up financing but also access to the venture capital experience and technological expertise of our investment team. In addition, KBC Securities provides added value for the further growth of companies: from M&A advice and financing solutions to guidance during an IPO. With this integrated approach, we offer founders a unique ecosystem of support and financing – an offering unmatched in Belgium.”
Unique data-driven selection and personal follow-up
For Start it @KBC, the key to selecting the right start-ups - and thus early-stage investments - lies in strong personal follow-up of founders, supported by in-depth data analysis of more than 1,900 start-ups.
“The best investment decisions don’t come from pitch decks or superficial signals, but from being close to the founders. Traditional investors miss opportunities because they rely too heavily on superficial parameters and only have short contact moments with founders. We follow them closely for a full year and notice that it is often teams with atypical profiles that build strong and successful companies,” says Andy Gijbels, CTO at Start it @KBC. “We see who truly makes progress, learns quickly, and perseveres in the face of setbacks. Those are the best predictors of future success. Thanks to this close collaboration, we can invest based on what really matters - not on labels. This also gives founders who might be underestimated elsewhere a fair chance to prove what they are capable of.”
€1.1 billion raised
Of the 1,923 start-ups Start it @KBC has supported since 2014, 227 have raised more than €1 million, and 122 have raised more than €2 million. Together, they have raised over €1.1 billion and created more than 12,000 jobs, making the ecosystem one of the largestemployers in Belgium. With the recent acquisitions of DESelect by Unaric and Segments.ai by Uber, the program has also seen two more successful exits.
Start it @KBC start-ups also perform very well in terms of survival rate: after five years, about 73% still exist, compared to an international benchmark of 51% for start-ups that raise venture capital. Among the biggest success stories are well-known names such as Aikido Security (Scale-up of the Year 2025), Bolt, Loop Earplugs, Conveo, Keyrock, Segments.ai, Crazy Games, and Ritchie.