Sven De Cleyn

Sven De Cleyn is passionate about tech entrepreneurship. He’s currently leading the imec.istart accelerator program, which supports over 210 tech startups, and is Managing Director of the imec.istart Fund (the accelerator’s pre-seed investment fund) as well as a member of the Board and the Investment Committee. Sven has been in the incubation and tech startup world for over 15 years, accumulating academic know-how through his PhD degree on the success of academic spin-offs, and hands-on experience through the coaching and support of some of Belgium’s leading tech ventures.

De Cleyn has a Master’s degree in Commercial Engineering, and a PhD in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management, both from the University of Antwerp. In his earlier career, he was part-time professor in entrepreneurship. He also serves on the Board of Directors or Advisory Board of various technology companies, and was voted Investor of the Year in 2017.

Education

• Universiteit Antwerpen PhD PhD studies in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management 2005 – 2011
• INSEAD Value Creation for Owners and Directors programme 2014
• UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Venture Capital Executive Program Venture Capital 2013
• University of Antwerp Magna cum laude Commercial Engineering (Business Administration and Technology) 2000 – 2005
• Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege, Westmalle Secondary degree Latin-mathematics 1994 – 2000