The fourth fund of ULB’s venture unit now stands at $41.2m having extended its investment purview to include spinouts in Quebec.

Theodorus, the university venture arm of Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), has increased its fourth fund to €38m ($41.2m) having raised $14.1m from Quebec trade union-run investment fund Fonds de solidarité FTQ , De Tijd reported today.
State-owned investment vehicles SFPI-FPIM and GIMB also supplied new funding, as did BNP Paribas Fortis, a subsidiary of financial services firm BNP Paribas, holding firm Sofina and private investor Roch Doliveux.
Theodorus IV has exceeded its original $27.1m to $32.5m target. The initial $23m close, held in late 2018, included BNP Paribas, Sofina, SRIB and SFPI-FPIM, along with public-private partnership Sambrinvest and assorted family offices.
The news comes as Theodorus IV enters the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.
A new three-person office in the Quebecois capital, Montreal, will pursue two objectives: backing spinouts from Quebecois universities and driving overseas growth for Belgium-based investees.
Investments in Quebec will align with Theodorus’s existing Belgian staregy, focusing on spaces such as biotech, medtech and high-tech.
Four Theodorus vehicles have launched since the debut of its initial evergreen fund in 2003. The division’s remit was later expanded to include early-stage startups, rather than just spinouts, having gained a $6.4m second fund in 2006 and $26.3m third vehicle in 2012.