Danny Gonnissen (pictured), former head of Belgium-based industrials company Bekaert’s corporate venturing unit, has re-emerged as investment partner at QBIC Venture Partners, manager of the €30m ($40m) university venturing fund in the region.
Ghent University (UGent) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in collaboration with the University of Antwerp, set up the inter-university seed capital fund earlier in the month. The fund will also support industrial spinouts if they are based on substantial cooperation with the universities.
Gonnissen had spent two and a half years as manager of corporate venturing at Bekaert and was at the company since 1999 before leaving with Nuno Carvalho as the new head of Bekaert Corporate Venturing.
The inter-university venturing QBIC Fund is the successor of the Baekeland II-Fund of UGent and the BI3-fund of VUB. The fund was raised from the university associations, investment banks and public companies. ARKimedes, a Flemish government organisation, through the Participation Company Flanders (Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV)), also committed €12m.