Ghent University, an emerging hub of the digital age

A scale-up is defined as a start-up that has achieved sufficient growth to aspire to become a large global company. Omar Mohout, among other researchers at Sirris (the collective centre for the technology industry based in Liège), has emerged as a specialist in scale-ups active in the digital sector. Since 2013, he has established a European ranking of these types of companies created from spin-offs in 200 universities and other research centres.

The analysis of data from more than 10,000 European scale-ups shows that Ghent University can boast an enviable fifth place, preceded only by big names such as the University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, the University of Oxford and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

For Wim Van Camp, General Manager Technology Transfer at Ghent University, "This result shows how UGent has been able to create spin-offs over the past fifteen years, thanks to various funding mechanisms, and how these young companies can develop into large-scale enterprises in the Ghent ecosystem. Moreover, thanks to our unique development structure within the UGent Association, we will continue to focus on supporting, informing and motivating researchers so that they can make the most of their research in the coming years."

Ghent University is a real driving force for the economy.