Augustine Therapeutics

Jul 7, 2025

Belgium’s startup ecosystem is proving itself to be more vibrant and resilient than ever in 2025. Fuelled by strong public–private partnerships, innovative deep tech, and a wave of AI-first startups, the country is cementing its place on Europe’s innovation map. According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025 report , Belgium climbed to 23rd place globally, a nearly 30 per cent improvement that brings it back to a position it last held in 2021. The country entered the unicorn club in 2020 with Collibra, a data intelligence platform that marked a major milestone for the national startup ecosystem. This achievement helped pave the way for other high-growth success stories, including Odoo, Deliverect, and Team.Blue. Supporting this growth are institutions like Start it @KBC, KU Leuven, and imec.istart. National programmes such as the Immigrant Entrepreneur Programme and the Digital AmBEtion partnership with Microsoft further strengthen startup development by boosting foreign investment and digital infrastructure. In 2024, Belgium’s tech sector showed strong recovery , with startups raising nearly €500M in just the first half, already surpassing the €424M total raised in 2023. However, the pace has slightly slowed this year; Belgian startups raised $378M (nearly €322.46M) across 76 rounds in the first half of 2025, according to Dealroom . The country continues to benefit from its central European location and a multilingual, highly educated workforce. This has helped startups scale globally, despite a smaller local market. With increasing VC activity, government support, and a track record of success, the ecosystem is looking for continued growth. In this article, we have highlighted the 10 biggest funding rounds in Belgium from the first half of 2025. Also, five of these companies are already hiring as they build out their teams and ramp up operations. Check them out below! Augustine Therapeutics is a biotech company that focuses on the treatment of neuromuscular, neurodegenerative, and cardio-metabolic diseases through its next-generation approach to selectively inhibit HDAC6. Augustine’s HDAC6 inhibitors have been purposefully designed to selectively inhibit HDAC6 while preserving its beneficial non-catalytic functions. The company’s lead programme, AGT-100216, is the first selective HDAC6 inhibitor for long-term treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. With its novel non-hydroxamate, non-hydrazide-producing chemotype, Augustine’s HDAC6 approach is selective, avoids the limitations of other chemotypes, and is built for chronic diseases. With this novel approach, the company will also be targeting diseases beyond CMT, including neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases. Nobi Society is ageing rapidly. By 2030, one in five people in the US and Europe will be over 65. In the UK, this proportion will reach one in four by 2040. In Japan, one in three people is already over 65. These demographic changes are affecting healthcare systems and increasing the need for new solutions. Nobi aims to support older adults in living independent lives. The company helps seniors remain in their homes and supports them in care facilities. Nobi develops smart AI lamps for fall detection, fall prevention, and care support. These lamps function as tools for both older adults and caregivers. Designed as ceiling-mounted lamps, they contain AI systems that process data locally in real time. Nobi’s AI system was trained for six years using over 250,000 real-life situations by global experts to assist older adults and caregivers. Swave Photonics Founder(s): Theodore Marescaux, Dmitri Choutov Swave Photonics is a tech startup that operates in the metaverse market. It designs and markets Holographic eXtended Reality chips, based on proprietary diffractive photonics technology. The semiconductor company uses Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) chip technology for scalable, cost-effective manufacturing and commercialisation. The company’s Holographic Extended Reality (HXR) technology uses tiny pixels and special DynamicDepth technology to create 3D holographic images that look natural and adapt to the user’s surroundings. This makes it easier for the human eye to process the images. Unlike many current AR devices, which are bulky, use a lot of power, and can cause discomfort, Swave’s technology claims to solve these problems. Vertical Compute Hiring status: No Fyteko’s solution helps improve crop yields, optimise land use, and support sustainable agriculture while helping farms adapt to climate change and preserve biodiversity. It has developed a patented enzymatic synthesis technology using biosourced molecules to create biostimulants, herbicide enhancers, and biopesticides. After years of research, Fyteko has conducted over 500 field trials, filed six patent families, and in 2024 treated more than 500,000 hectares, enhancing drought tolerance and productivity. As part of its research efforts, the company participated in the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, securing funding for a two-year project launched in 2020. This initiative supported field trials in eight EU countries, enhanced product formulation, and scaled up production, contributing to Fyteko’s full European launch in 2023. KiOmed Pharma Hiring status: No KiOmed Pharma , a subsidiary of KitoZyme, develops injectable medical devices using a chitosan derivative of non-animal origin. The company focuses on rheumatology, aesthetic medicine, and ophthalmology. Its product KiOmedine, designed for the symptomatic treatment of knee osteoarthritis, has been used by over 35,000 patients. The treatment is currently available in more than ten European countries and the Middle East. Alongside its commercial efforts, KiOmed Pharma is progressing in other medical fields. It has partnered with Sinclair in aesthetic medicine and is working on a treatment for dry eye syndrome based on its chitosan technology. GreenPulse Hiring status: No GreenPulse provides Renewables-as-a-Service to help companies adopt solar energy without upfront investment. Through corporate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), GreenPulse develops, finances, builds, and operates large-scale onsite solar projects. Partnering with GreenPulse allows companies to lower carbon emissions and reduce electricity costs through onsite solar generation. This model supports long-term energy goals and climate-related commitments. Spica Therapeutics Founder(s): Anders Etzerodt, Jonas H. Hiring status: No Spica Therapeutics develops therapies that target specific types of immune cells called macrophages, which play key roles in various diseases. The company uses its proprietary macrophage fingerprinting technology to identify and selectively modulate the macrophage subsets most relevant to disease. Spica focuses on creating treatments for oncology, fibroinflammatory, and autoimmune diseases – areas with limited effective options. By altering macrophage behaviour in a targeted way, Spica aims to improve disease outcomes without affecting healthy tissue. Currently, the company is advancing two lead therapeutic programs and building a broader pipeline of macrophage-modulating treatments. Animab Hiring status: No Animab develops biotechnology-based solutions for animal health, with a focus on preventing gastrointestinal infections in livestock. Founded in 2020 as a spin-off from VIB, UGent, and VUB, the company applies proprietary research to support evolving needs in livestock production. By combining expertise in animal science, biotechnology, and business, Animab aims to deliver effective, cost-efficient, and sustainable products that improve animal health and performance. The company is led by a team experienced in vaccines, biotech development, and global market strategy Azalea Vision