Private Equity
Awards 2025

Discover the winners and nominees of the 2025 edition of the PE Awards.

Venture company of the year, defined as a company backed by a venture capital firm, where the investment was primarily aimed at developing an innovative product or service, at scaling-up the company or accelerating the go-to-market process;

Growth company of the year, defined as a company backed by a private equity firm, typically through a minority investment, that is looking to expand and improve operations or enter new markets in order to accelerate its growth;

Buy-out company of the year, defined as a company backed by a private equity firm holding a majority or a controlling stake, and financed through a mix of equity and debt.

Venture Company of the year:

EsoBiotec

Mont Saint-Guibert

EsoBiotec, based in Mont Saint-Guibert, was founded in 2020 by Jean-Pierre Latere (former COO of Celyad). EsoBiotec develops in vivo cell therapies, administered directly and intravenously to patients. The therapy uses inactive viruses as delivery vehicles to deliver genetic instructions to immune cells, programming them to attack cancer cells. The therapy can be produced very quickly.

Since its founding, it has raised €14 million from Wallonie Entreprendre, UCB Ventures, Thuja (NL), Sambrinvest, InvestSud, and Invivo Partners (SPA). In 2025, the company will be acquired by AstraZeneca for a sum of up to USD 1 billion, including USD 425 million upfront and $575 million in milestone payments.

The company currently employs 13 people.

Growth Company of the year:

Lighthouse

Ghent

Founded in 2012, Lighthouse develops hotel management software that helps hotels worldwide with their pricing. It serves 70,000 hotels in 185 countries. Founders Matthias Geeroms (CFO), Adriaan Coppens, and Gino Engels built the company into a unicorn and last year raised €350 million in a Series C round from the American firm KKR. Other shareholders include Venrex, Highgate, and Spectrum.

The company has experienced strong growth in recent years and weathered the COVID years with flying colors.

Lighthouse has 850 team members, 220 of whom work in Ghent.

Buy-Out Company of the year:

BOMA

Antwerp

Antwerp-based cleaning specialist BOMA (BOMA stands for “Brushes and Mats”), founded in 1974, has been financed for decades by private equity (KBC Private Equity, Think2Act Partners), and took a new leap forward in 2024 with the investment of the Scandinavian fund IK. The company has grown steadily over the years to a turnover of €150 million.

BOMA, led by Luc Bresseleers (CEO) and Stijn Wildiers (CFO), employs 340 people.

Other Nominees

Timefold (Venture company)

AI company Timefold develops technology for scheduling optimization. Timefold was founded in 2023 by Maarten Vandenbroucke (CEO) and Geoffrey De Smet (CTO) and is based in Ghent.

Many companies encounter problems with complex scheduling. Timefold ensures that technicians waste less time in traffic and that CO2 emissions are noticeably reduced. This can lead to significant cost savings. Since its founding, the company has raised €8 million from Lakestar and Smartfin Capital.

The Timefold team currently has 35 people.

Augustine Therapeutics (Venture company)

VIB and KU Leuven spin-off Augustine Therapeutics, founded in 2019 and based in Leuven, is researching a treatment for the hereditary disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT). Patients lose muscle control, strength, and sensation. An estimated 300,000 patients in Europe and the US combined are affected.

The company raised €78 million this year, bringing its total capital raised to €110 million. Danish Novo Holdings and French Jeito Capital are the largest backers in this round. Existing shareholders Eli Lilly, Asabys Partners, and the Belgian funds V-Bio Ventures, PMV, and Gemma Frisius Fonds also invested.

The company employs 19 people.

Confo Therapeutics (Growth company)

Ghent-based Confo Therapeutics, founded in 2015 and led by CEO Cedric Ververken, raised €60 million last summer to develop candidate treatments for rare hormonal diseases and metabolic disorders, such as obesity. It had previously raised €37 million.

Following the latest funding round, Ackermans & van Haaren and Driehaus Capital Management joined. Existing shareholders include VIB, Qbic, Capricorn Partners, V-Bio Ventures, PMV, Perceptive Advisors, Michigan University, Fund+, BioGeneration Ventures, and Wellington Partners.

Confo Therapeutics has 57 employees.

PanTera (Growth company)

PanTera, founded in 2022, is based in Mol. PanTera is a joint venture between IBA and SCK Cen in Mol, which develops the infrastructure for radiotherapy in cancer treatment. The site to be built in Mol will produce Actinium 225, a substance that attacks cancer very specifically without damaging other cells or tissue.

In September 2024, the company raised $100 million from EQT, Kurma, Eurazeo, Palladin, Korys, PMV, and Wallonie Entreprendre.

Pantera is led by CEO Sven Van den Berghe and employs 35 people.

Corilus (Buy-out company)

Corilus, the former software division of Fagron, is a software company based in Ghent for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and nurses.

Corilus has more than 40,000 customers and 450 employees. The group has a turnover of €72 million. Rivean has been an investor since 2020. Between 2020 and 2024, Corilus grew significantly, partly due to four acquisitions in Belgium.

In 2024, PSG Equity, an American investment fund, acquired a majority stake in Corilus, while Rivean remained on board as a minority shareholder. CEO Dirk Van Lerberghe passed the torch to Franck Frayer in September 2025.

WVT group (Buy-out company)

WVT Group was founded in 1996 and is based in Aartselaar.

The company, led by CEO Ward van Thielen and Jan Pieter Lowette (CFO), sells cleaning products. Since 2019, its growth has been supported by private equity investor Sofindev. Recently, Genk-based Roam was acquired, and French company Siparec joined, while Sofindev remains a minority shareholder.

The company has a turnover of €45 million and employs 80 people.

Our aim is to reward and celebrate high-performing Belgian companies that are backed by a private equity or venture capital investor, thus highlighting private equity as an asset class supporting the development and growth of Belgian businesses. By creating three award categories, we reflect the three major archetypes in our industry; Venture, Growth and Buy-out. The direct financial return for the private equity investor does not constitute the decisive factor for selecting the award winners.

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