Flanders, the northern region of Belgium, is ranked as one of the most innovative environments in Europe. Its innovation-driven economy provides everything a company needs to grow sustainably, perfectly suited to serve as your gateway to international and technological growth.
Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) is a Flanders government agency that plays a central role in the internationalization of the economy of Flanders. FIT is present in 90 countries around the globe, including Taipei.
This year, the FIT Taipei office invited leading and flagship Flanders-based companies, VC, startups, and scaleups to join several forums and the Flanders/Belgium Pavilion during InnoVEX 2023.
Outstanding speakers included Mr. Tom Vanhoutte, Partner of the independent global venture capital fund imec.Xpand, to talk about global VC trends and value-added deep-tech investment, and Dr. Peru Dharani, Technology Director at Barco Labs Belgium, to present the world of AR/VR/XR. The 2 VIP speakers presented on the Central Stage of the InnoVEX Forum on the afternoon of May 31st.
Providing an overview of Flanders’ startup ecosystem, innovation, and international business opportunities, FIT wants to connect startups, potential investors, incubators, and other members of the ecosystem. Highlighted at the Flanders-Belgium Pavilion were the Flemish flagship innovation company Barco, Belgium’s future unicorn Settlemint (blockchain), promising scale-up Luceda Photonics (photonics EPDA tool/IPs), and fast-growing Marklinks (machine learning for offshore wind cable monitoring).
 http://www.barco.com | During InnoVEX 2023, Barco officially launched the newest incremental innovation result of ClickShare CX50 2nd Generation. ClickShare is a success story for Barco and the Corporate Venture Team, which are committed to disruptive and incremental innovation. | |
 http://www.settlemint.com | SettleMint is believed to be Belgium’s next unicorn specialized in blockchain-platform-as-a-service applications. It is the No. 1 low-code solution to build and integrate any blockchain application, faster and easier.SettleMint’s platform brings value for everybody in an organization, not only IT experts. The startup believes that organizations will benefit from the huge potential of blockchains, as long as technical complexity is removed. | |
 http://www.lucedaphotonics.com | Luceda Photonics is one of Belgium’s fastest-growing semiconductor startups, providing photonic IC design tools and IP. Luceda serves as the upstream entry point in the photonics ecosystem for designers as well as foundries. Its EPDA (Electronic Photonic Design Automation) automates and integrates all aspects of photonic IC design flow into one platform to give designers a “right-the-first-time” experience. | |
 http://www.marlinks.com | Marlinks was the winner of the 2022 Blue Innovation Award in Belgium. Marlinks’ sub-sea cable monitoring models and machine learning algorithms turn data into actionable insights that integrate with existing O&M systems to allow for timely maintenance. Subsea cables in the offshore wind industry represent 10 to 20% of initial capital costs, but 80% of all insurance claims for wind farms. Marlinks’ solutions ensure no more unplanned maintenance, eliminate expensive surveys, and reduce insurance premiums. |
