Cyril Vančura (pictured), investment principal at Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Germany-based industrial goods company, has left to join IMEC, a Belgium-based micro and nano-electronic research centre.
Imec had a first close at €60m for the fund, Imec.xpand, earlier this year, Vančura said, and was targeting up to €100m ($114m) in the second by February.
Initially managed by Tom Vanhoutte and Peter Vanbekbergen, Imec.xpand will back both Imec spinouts and external startups, but will in that case focus on early-stage projects where Imec’s technology, expertise and infrastructure can make a meaningful difference to the development.
In mid-2011, RBVC linked up with venture capital firms Capricorn and LRM to invest in Belgian clean-tech company Epigan.
Vančura has been investing for RBVC since the start of 2009, particularly in enabling technologies.