The Faktory Research
Investment Thesis
The Faktory is a private early-stage investment fund and accelerator based in Liège, Belgium, founded in 2013 by Pierre L'Hoest — the entrepreneur who founded and led EVS Broadcast Equipment (EVS:BB) through its 1998 IPO — together with Simon Alexandre, former CEO of CETIC (Belgium's ICT applied-research center). The fund's stated mission is to identify founders building disruptive technology with the potential to win leadership positions in niche international B2B markets, with a historical emphasis on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and secondary interest in health and environment. In practice, the portfolio skews heavily toward Internet of Things (IoT) hardware/semiconductors and B2B SaaS.
The Faktory operates a distinctive three-step "360° analysis" partnership model: an initial project/idea analysis, a business-model review, and finally an investment paired with ongoing operational support (strategy, sales, marketing, product development, and key hiring). Before making an equity investment, the fund can provide up to €100,000 in financial and HR support during an acceleration phase, positioning it as an accelerator-fund hybrid rather than a pure check-writer.
Sector Focus
- Internet of Things (IoT) hardware, sensors, and energy-harvesting semiconductors
- B2B SaaS and enterprise workflow software
- Applied AI for industrial, automotive, and financial-operations use cases
- Secondary/historical interest in life sciences manufacturing software and environment/health tech
Stage Focus
The Faktory invests primarily at Seed, with occasional pre-seed acceleration support and Series A follow-ons in existing portfolio companies (e.g., IVEX's 2026 Series A, e-peas' multiple follow-on rounds through Series D). Tracxn data shows the fund's first-round investments are concentrated at Seed (9 of 11 tracked first rounds), with one Series A first check.
Check Size
Publicly listed investment range: €250,000 to €1,000,000 per initial check (per current third-party investor directories), with earlier fund materials citing capital injections up to €2,000,000 and a self-imposed cap of never exceeding a 50% equity stake in any portfolio company.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. The Faktory has led at least one seed round (Penbox) but has more frequently participated alongside other investors as a syndicate member — e.g., e-peas' 2026 growth round was led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation with The Faktory participating, and IVEX's 2026 Series A was backed by "existing investors The Faktory and Dedicated.lu" without a named sole lead.
Recent Activity
The fund remains actively deploying, with two disclosed transactions in 2026 to date, both follow-ons into existing portfolio companies:
- September 2026: Participated in IVEX's €5M Series A (with Dedicated.lu) to scale the company's AI-powered ADAS/AV safety-testing platform internationally.
- July 2026: Participated in e-peas' $22M financing round, led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, to scale its ultra-low-power energy-harvesting semiconductor business.
The fund saw two exits in early-to-mid 2026: MyCellHub (bio-manufacturing execution software, acquired by Title21 Health Solutions, January 2026) and Aividens (AI-based receivables/credit-risk management, acquired by RecVue, March 2026). An earlier portfolio company, Nestwave (IoT geolocation), was acquired by NextNav in November 2022.
Portfolio Highlights
Tracxn counts roughly 25 portfolio companies since inception (2013), spanning Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia, with 4 tracked exits. Notable names:
- e-peas — ultra-low-power energy-harvesting ICs for IoT devices; raised through Series D, backed by 19+ investors including Otium Capital and Airbus Ventures
- IVEX — AI-based simulation/validation platform for autonomous-vehicle safety testing
- Nestwave — ultra-low-power GNSS/IoT geolocation (acquired by NextNav, 2022)
- MyCellHub — cloud-based bio-manufacturing execution system, KU Leuven spinout (acquired by Title21 Health Solutions, 2026)
- Aividens — AI-driven receivables/credit-risk management (acquired by RecVue, 2026)
- Zozio — real-time industrial data platform for manufacturing flow optimization
- Penbox — SaaS case/document-collection platform for regulated industries
- XYZT AI — cloud-based visual analytics
Team
- Pierre L'Hoest — Founder and President. Co-founded EVS Broadcast Equipment in 1994 (IPO'd on the Brussels stock exchange in 1998); CEO of EVS until 2011; received INSEAD's Innovator Prize (2011) and Trends-Tendance Manager of the Year (2004).
- Simon Alexandre — General Partner & Co-Founder. CEO of CETIC (Belgium's ICT applied-research center) from 2008–2013, leading a 50-person research team; background in e-Health innovation.
- Nicolas Biet — Partner, finance and investment (VC & PE) background.
- Yves Joskin — Technological Adviser and Partner. Founded TDV (digital video pioneer) and later Euresys (machine vision); served as Euresys CTO through 2012.
- Jean-Pierre Pironnet — Investment and Financial Adviser. Co-founded EVS alongside L'Hoest and managed its 1998 IPO as Financial Director.
- Sébastien Dawans — Advisor, IoT technology expert, providing technical guidance to portfolio companies.
- Anthony Heukmes — Advisor, SaaS technology expert.
Decision Process
Small partnership structure (Tracxn lists a 3-person team, 2 of whom are partners); investment decisions run through the GP partnership (L'Hoest and Alexandre) following the fund's three-step diligence process rather than a large investment committee.
Founder Preferences
The Faktory explicitly emphasizes founders' openness to coaching and feedback as a selection criterion, alongside technical/domain depth in disruptive B2B technology. The fund states a strong commitment to founder-protective deal terms and never taking more than a 50% equity stake.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Belgium and France, with stated coverage extending to Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland (BeNeLux + France as the fund's core stated territory). The fund is headquartered in Liège, Belgium, and previously operated from the Liège Airport business center before its planned move to a purpose-built, zero-energy site in Liège's city center combining startup space, urban agriculture, and housing.
Research Note
The Faktory's own website (thefaktory.com / www.thefaktory.com) was unreachable during this research pass (connection timeout and repeated HTTP 422 responses from the fetch tooling), so this profile was built entirely from third-party sources: Private Capital Belgium's member directory, Tracxn, TheVentureCodex, Foundersuite, Angels Partners, Dealroom aggregation, Silicon Luxembourg's founder profile, and primary press releases/company announcements for each cited transaction. Fields sourced only from lower-confidence aggregators (e.g., AUM, some check-size figures) are flagged with reduced confidence scores below.