Katholieke Universiteit Leuven vzw
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven vzw
05/29/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/29/2024 00:56
New innovation cluster at Arenberg Science Park in the works
At the Arenberg Science Park, construction has recently begun on 'Innovation Cradle Leuven': a new 7,500 m2 building cluster that will house high-tech start-ups and scale-ups with a focus on health, IT and mechatronics. KU Leuven, the city of Leuven, Innovation & Incubation Center KU Leuven and EFRO Flanders are investing 15 million euro in the project. Earlier this week, the construction site was officially inaugurated in the presence of the policy-makers involved.
Flanders has one of the most booming start-up ecosystems in Europe, but the supply of customised business accommodation is not evolving at an equal pace. This is a problem especially for fast-growing university spin-offs. They need modular office and work spaces that can grow in line with the growth of the young companies themselves.
Innovation Cradle Leuven, a new building cluster of 7,500 m2 at the Arenberg Science Park, aims to meet that need. Starting from the summer of 2025, high-tech start-ups and scale-ups focusing on health, IT and mechatronics will be able to use its modular spaces ranging between 100 and 400 m2. Those kind of spaces are in high demand for growing companies with more than 10 full-time employees, but there is only a limited number of them currently available in the Leuven region.
The new innovation cluster will be built on Koning Boudewijnlaan in Heverlee next to the two Bio-Incubators and the Arenberg Accelerator. Close to KU Leuven's Arenberg Campus, therefore, and close to imec, VIB, UZ Leuven and 'Flanders Make', the strategic research center for the manufacturing industry. This is a unique location that facilitates the multidisciplinary innovation of the future.
Not only spin-offs
KU Leuven, the city of Leuven, Innovation & Incubation Centre KU Leuven and EFRO Flanders (with funds from the European Regional Development Fund) are investing 15 million euro in the project, for which the foundation stone was laid in the fall of 2023. The new buildings are expected to house up to 30 high-tech start-ups and scale-ups, bringing around 350 highly qualified jobs and a multitude of indirect jobs to the region.
"Important: not only our university's spin-offs will be able to work there", says Koenraad Debackere, Executive Director of KU Leuven Research & Development. "Other high-tech companies that want to set up shop in the core of Leuven's knowledge ecosystem are welcome as well. Of course, collaborations with the nearby knowledge centres, including KU Leuven, will be encouraged. In this way, our new cluster can contribute to the growth of young companies and to the development of socially relevant products and services."
Leuven mayor Mohamed Ridouani, who is supporting the project as a representative from the city of Leuven, adds: "This new building strengthens Leuven's innovative power and puts our city on the map as an epicentre of knowledge and science; an important new step. It is of great importance that we provide the necessary space for growing companies in our region, because pioneering research is increasingly leading to start-ups and additional investments. Our knowledge economy generates a particularly exciting dynamic that brings both faith in the future and prosperity."
KU Leuven Research & Development
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