VIVES fund Research
Investment Thesis
VIVES is a Belgian seed and early-stage venture capital fund initiated by UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) in 2004 and managed by VIVES Partners (formerly through Sopartec, UCLouvain's technology-transfer company). VIVES backs high-technology companies built on strong intellectual property that deliver a positive societal impact. The fund describes its "DNA" in four pillars: Challenger (helping founders pressure-test their project against the market), Soutenir/Support (investing alongside co-investors and acting as a close partner through the company's growth), Renforcer/Strengthen (connecting portfolio companies to a network of professionals and investors), and Perenniser/Sustain (aligning long-term shareholders and pursuing quality exits via trade sale or IPO).
Sector Focus
VIVES is a generalist, multisectoral fund with a stated focus on three verticals: life sciences, AgTech, and hard engineering. In practice the current portfolio skews heavily toward biotech and therapeutics (oncology, immunology, regenerative medicine, radiopharmaceuticals, antivirals), with a meaningful cluster of AgTech/biocontrol companies and a smaller group of deep-tech hardware and semiconductor plays (gas sensing, IoT, space systems, video compression, power semiconductors).
Stage Focus
Per its published investment criteria, VIVES targets early-stage to Series A companies headquartered in Europe (excluding Switzerland and the UK), with a preference for Belgium and neighboring countries. Its third fund, VIVES Inter-University Fund (VIVES IUF), can invest from pre-seed through Series B, with capacity to deploy up to €7M per portfolio company after its 2024 second closing.
Check Size
VIVES IUF can invest up to €7M per company across a company's lifecycle (pre-seed to Series B follow-ons). Individual initial checks are not publicly disclosed with precision, but historical fund documents describe per-deal investment capacity of up to €5M at VIVES III's 2020 launch, since increased to €7M.
Lead Tendency
VIVES typically co-invests alongside other investors and can take the role of lead/reference investor ("investisseur de référence"), coordinating the syndicate on behalf of co-investors when appropriate. Recent rounds (e.g., Nuclidium's €84M Series B, Bionyra's $165M Series A) show VIVES Partners participating as one of several syndicate members rather than always leading, so lead tendency is best described as "both."
Recent Activity
VIVES has been active through 2026, with several portfolio financings and one notable exit:
- June 2026: Bionyra Pharma closed a $165M oversubscribed Series A (co-led by Jeito Capital and Sofinnova Partners) with VIVES Partners participating.
- April 2026: Generare raised €20M to scale its evolution-derived molecular data platform for drug discovery.
- July 2025: VIVES Partners participated in Nuclidium AG's €84M Series B for copper-based radiopharmaceuticals.
- June 2025: Portfolio company The Akkermansia Company was acquired by Danone.
- February 2025: BiocSol raised an additional €4.4M (bringing total raised to €10M) for sustainable crop-protection biosolutions.
- January 2024: VIVES Inter-University Fund closed a €38M second round (led by the European Investment Fund), bringing total fund size to €70M.
Portfolio Highlights
VIVES states 128M€ in funds under management (VIVES I €15M + VIVES II €43M + VIVES IUF €70M), 30 investments realized, 12 exits, and over €1.25B in follow-on capital raised by its portfolio companies, supporting roughly 600 direct jobs. Notable current and exited names include iTeos Therapeutics (raised $125M and completed a Nasdaq IPO in 2020), Novadip Biosciences (regenerative medicine, Phase 3 trials), The Akkermansia Company (acquired by Danone in 2025), Promethera Biosciences, Cissoid, intoPIX, Keemotion, GreenWatt, Tessares, e-peas, Botalys, Aphea.bio, VOCSens, and ViroVet.
Team
- Philippe Durieux — Managing Director / CEO, VIVES Partners
- André Vandemeulebroecke — Partner
- Yannick Vancoppenolle — Partner
- Sandra Schoors — Partner
- Gilles Dufour — Partner
- Saskia Lesire — Associate
- Eric Pâques — Advisor (Conseiller)
- Roger Assaker — Advisor (Conseiller)
- J-P. Bizzari — Advisor (Conseiller)
Decision Process
VIVES operates via a formal Investment Committee ("Comité d'investissement") composed of its managing director, partners, and associate, supplemented by outside advisors for domain expertise.
Founder Preferences
VIVES looks for pluridisciplinary, experienced founding teams building high-technology, IP-protected companies with a credible business model and a large addressable (existing or to-be-created) market. A collaborative link to one of VIVES's university or incubator partners is a plus but not required. VIVES favors founders willing to build a syndicate of aligned, long-term shareholders and to plan toward a quality exit (trade sale or IPO) over an average ~7-year hold.
Geographic Focus
VIVES invests in spin-offs from UCLouvain and its partner universities — KU Leuven (Belgium), Université de Paris (France), Wageningen University (Netherlands), and the University of Luxembourg — as well as in independent start-ups headquartered in Europe (excluding Switzerland and the UK), with a stated preference for Belgium and its neighboring countries.