First ever survey of Belgian web-startups, what are their expectations of the future, how do they find investments, what are the bottlenecks for their growth ambitions? Invaluable for startups, VCs and governmental institutions...

1. Organized by:

2. Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
© institute for future insights. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without written
permission.
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3. Partners:
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Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012

4. Content:
Foreword by the organizers
Foreword by Filip Tack, founder of Nomadesk, President of Carambla
List of participating start-ups
1. Executive summary
2. Respondent’s demographics
3. Current investments and future investment needs
4. Financial and headcount projections
5. The barometer: how confident are these startups to reach their objectives?
6. Conclusions
About the organizers
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
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5. Foreword by the organizers
Dear reader,
Since you acquired these findings of the first survey for Belgian web-entrepreneurs, you
probably have some stake in this market. Perhaps you are a potential investor looking for an
overview of the market in which you would like to invest. Perhaps you are a governmental
organization looking for ways to assess whether programs to stimulate entrepreneurship are
fruitful or not. Or maybe you are a startup yourself, looking for a mean to benchmark your
successes and future expectations with your peers.
Regardless of your purpose, this document should help you out. First we will investigate the
road the 61 participants to the survey have travelled so far. How quickly did they turn their
ideas into a business? Where did they get their idea from? How did they find the capital to
start their business? We will then investigate the future expectations of these startups. How
much additional investment do they need for their ambitions? How much do they expect to
grow in terms of turnover and headcount? Last but not least, we will look at how these
startups envision their future. How confident are they to reach their objectives? What are
they most afraid of? What do they need in order to meet their aspirations?
This is a starting point of what we hope will be a long journey. The value of this initiative will
undoubtedly increase over time, as more startups join this survey and as throughout the
years we will be able to add a time-dimension to this analysis as well: is the morale of the
startups increasing or declining? Do they find new investment sources? Are their projections
of future revenues and headcount changing –and, if so, why? These are all question we aim
to answer as we organize this survey on a yearly basis.
As we do this, we hope to maximize the value of this survey for the startup community, but
we will also track a small but exponentially growing part of the Belgian economy. As more
and more innovative youngsters have less and less barriers to chase their own dreams and
create their own startup, there is little doubt that this market will grow in importance and
strategic relevance in the near future. This survey aims to track this trend, and eventually
serve as a funnel through which this market can let its voice be heard to a broader audience.
It will be a journey, and we are extremely proud to be a part of it.
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
Frederic De Meyer Marnik D’Hoore
Founder Founder
i4fi Bloovi
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6. Foreword by Filip Tack, founder of
Nomadesk, President of Carambla
Full disclosure here: I am involved in two web-based companies, Nomadesk and Carambla (a
genuine web startup) and really no expert at statistics1, barometers, etc. Therefore, my
contribution here is very much opinionated and no analytical thesis at all. Hence those who
mind “profane” language – however subtle – should probably read no further .
Upon my first perusing through the results of this first edition of the Belgian Web Startups
Barometer, I was hit by an encouraging vibe. I was absolutely, positively surprised that the
editors had managed to gather responses from 61 Belgian web startups, all of which did not
even exist three years ago.
This means that currently 61 teams of “go-getters” are frantically working their butts off to
get something going and make a difference – in spite of the lingering economic turmoil, and
being in Belgium for that matter. Granted, there is no better time to spur entrepreneurship
and innovation than in an economic downturn, and maybe we are witnessing some of that
too, after all: “Why waste a good crisis?” Yet, I like to believe there is truly something
brewing, in witness thereof this “Gang of 61”.
Of course, kudos to all surveyed companies for raising over 5 million Euro in FFFF2 funding
(a.k.a. “Love Money”) already, an inspiring number which is likely skewed by the few lucky
bastards that were able to sell their ten-million-Euro-idea to an early-stage venture fund; this
being no small feat neither. With over 225 billion Euro parked on Belgian savings accounts
(March 2012), there is a vast untapped Love Money potential still – although it is highly
unlikely we see any of that being mobilized for this purpose anytime soon.
Upon my second reading though, I got slightly concerned, most notably with regard of the
funding. Though it is normal that companies kick-off undercapitalized (“barren soil nurtures
the strongest teams”, a business angel once told me – he’s right!), it does hamper their
credibility to do business with the big guys, and therefore to become successful and obtain
the level of funding to become a world-class player. It’s the classic Catch-223 logic. No
surprise that nearly all surveyed web startups expect to raise more money soon. But 25
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
million Euro, all together – really? That seems off by a couple of millions, on the low side. If
anything, this might very well be the amount needed for a single company to become
successful.
Why aren’t these Web Startups more ambitious? Is it really the lack of sufficient funding –
due to a scattered investor landscape more than anything else – that makes them reduce
their funding needs accordingly4? Startups should be cautioned that it requires the same
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Lies, lies, damn lies and… statistics!
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Founder – Friend – Fools –Family in no particular order.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22
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Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt
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7. effort, and de-focus, to raise 100 thousand Euro as it requires to raise 5 million Euro.
Moreover, receiving early-stage funding is extremely uncertain. One can literally not afford
to bet the house on it, and therefore it should not be a startup’s primary focus.
Fortunately, there is a real certainty that money follows success. One caveat: in Europe such
success needs to be substantiated the old-fashioned way. So, here is a warm plea to the
Web Startups: Focus on what constitutes business success and what is required for an 18
months survival plan; the latter should not be venture capital – bootstrap!
Work extremely hard at substantiating your business model as soon as possible (beg, steal
and borrow – all proverbial), before even thinking about raising money (sweat equity and
FFFF excluded). When the time is right, be bullish and phase.
Clearly, all of the above is far easier “Foreworded” than done, especially for an
undercapitalized Web Startup that lacks all credibility to play in the major league. Therefore,
I need to extend my plea to the large corporations and governments too: give startups a
break and forego the Dun and Bradstreet5 reports for once. Simply do business; you never
know the startup ethos might inspire your company or department. Become a customer, or
better yet a strategic partner, that propels startup companies into major success.
European governments should think hard about putting Small Business Investment Company
(SBIC)6 programs in place, that require governments to include startup businesses in their
tenders, or give corporations tax breaks for doing business with the startups. My gut tells me
that it’s going to yield better results than setting up co-investment schemes with banks or
funds.
A final word to the editors: I hope that you can turn this Barometer into a Monitor that
regularly checks in with the “Gang of 61”, through good and bad times. I personally doubt
the relevance or value of a repeated survey with different subjects. Dare to take a “Guinea
pig” approach – no disrespect – and try to distill what constitutes success and failure in this
“Gang of 61”.
Thanks,
Filip (@ftack)
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
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Disclaimer: I have nothing against credit checking companies.
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http://www.sba.gov/inv
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Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012

9. 1. Executive summary
61 companies participated in this first edition of the Belgian Web-Startup Barometer.
To participate, these companies had to have (mobile) internet as major component of
their business model. Nevertheless, the survey respondents represent a very diverse
set of activities, which we grouped in 7 specific areas.
The majority of respondents
are active in ‘Services’ (which Distribution of type of
includes consultancy, hosting business (N = 61)
and the development of Video Web shop Retail
5% 3%
efficiency enhancing corporate 5%
Services
Media
tools) and Web Tools (tools (content)
28%
that improve the efficiency of 8%
online activities of individuals
other/ na
and companies). Together they 11%
accounted for more than half
of the respondents. 65,5% of Mobile app
12% Web tool
the startups in the survey were © i4fi & Bloovi 28%
created in or after 2011. 52%
of them are currently in the ‘early growth’ phase of development.
Funding obtained vs. funding needed
Almost half of the survey respondents collected funding of less than 10.000 euro for
their startup. Two third of the respondents obtained the funding from their own
money.
Taken together, these 61
startups have collected 5,5 funds obtained/needed (M€, N = 61)
million euro in funding so far, 30
but their expected funding 25
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
needs are anticipated to grow 20
360% to reach 25,3M in 2015.
15
The major purposes for the
10
additional funding need are
international expansion and 5
product development. 0
2012 2013 2014 2015
49% of the startups would © i4fi & Bloovi
need additional funding of above 250.000 euro in the next three years in order to
reach their objectives.
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10. Turnover and headcount expectations
50% of the respondents generated a turnover of less than 10.000 euro. This applies to
all the activity areas described above, except in Services where the average turnover
is about 360.000 euro.
In terms of profitability, 38% of the respondents claim to be break-even already. An
additional 10% expect to be so this year, and another additional 26% expect to be
break-even by next year. Unsurprisingly, the older the startup, the more likely it is to
be break-even already. On average, it takes the startups 21/5 years to turn break-even.
In terms of growth, the startups collectively expected to grow their turnover from
8,9M€ in 2011 to 74,9M€ in 2013, a growth of 736%7. Projected to the whole Web-
startup industry (assuming the survey respondents account for 5% of the actual
amount of web-startups in Belgium, and assuming that the number of web-startups
wouldn’t grow in the meantime), the weight of this industry in the Belgian GDP would
grow from 0,05% in 2011 to
Projected number of full-time
0,41% in 2013.
employees (N = 61)
In 2011 the 61 startups that 1.200
# full-time employees
participated in this survey 1.000
employed a total of 316 800
employees, an average of 5,2 600 optimistic
per startup. 92% of the 400 pessimistic
workforce was employed in 200
Belgium, and about 61% were -
full-time employees. 2012 2013 2014 2015
© i4fi & Bloovi
By 2015 the amount of full-
time employees is expected to grow to either 558 (pessimistic scenario, which
represents a CAGR of 42%) or 1.128 (optimistic scenario, representing a CAGR of
80%).
Reasons for considering moving
Future prospects and abroad (N = 55, multiple selections possible)
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
confidence
Proximity to investors
Find skills
While 44% of the respondents
Legal purposes
had no intention or plans to Proximity to partners
move abroad, 25% indicated Bigger market
to have such plans. Amongst Dynamic startup scene
Fiscal
the most cited reasons for
Weather
such a move, the proximity to Better Payment Systems
(potential) investors and the 0 4 8 12 16
availability of specific skills © i4fi & Bloovi
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Two answers that looked awkward were ‘normalized’ to calculate the Total and averages.
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11. were most frequently mentioned. When asked about their preferred destination for
their startup, 52% indicated the United States.
Asked about their confidence to reach their one year objective, 69% of the startups
in the survey claimed to be confident or very confident (4 and 5 on a scale of 5).
When asked about their confidence on a three year timeframe, the level of
confidence declines to 59% (4 and 5 on a scale of 5).
The economic climate was mentioned the most as the major hurdle for these startups
to reach their objectives.
Conclusions
As this survey shows, the prospects are bright for the Belgian web-startup
community. With an anticipated turnover growth of over 700% in the next two years
and with almost 74% of the startups from the survey turning profitable by the end of
2013, most of them seem in very healthy shape.
However, these prospects might be jeopardized. Most of these companies are
dependent on a stable economic climate, which is arguably not something that can
be guaranteed for the immediate (or foreseeable) future. But besides the economic
climate, these startups clearly distinguish three areas in which they need support in
order to reach their growth objectives:
 Many of these startups are struggling with what could be perceived as sales
and marketing issues. Finding the first ‘flagship’ customer, turning (free) users
into paying clients, hiring the perfect sales people, these are all issues that are
crucial for turning an early idea into growth mode.
 Finding and retaining the right skills. With ‘skills’ they mean sales and
marketing skills as much as ‘developers’, programming skills. These apparently
come in short supply in Belgium.
 The third issue is about finding additional investments. The major purposes for
the funding needs are international expansion and product development. Both
obviously are critical for realizing the growth potential of these startups, but as
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
the report shows they are finding it very hard to find these investments.
Tackling these three issues will be of vital importance to realize the full potential of
this small but growing portion of the Belgian economy.
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12. Visit www.belgianwebstartups.be
for the full report
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
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13. About the organizers:
The Institute for Future Insights (i4fi) was created in September 2011 by business
strategy advisor Frederic De Meyer. The mission of i4fi is to help companies
understand and anticipate long-term trends as a basis for innovation, strategy
refinement and competitive positioning improvement.
To keep informed of our research of long-term trends keep track of the blog
www.fredericdemeyer.com, or follow us on twitter (@fdemeyer) or facebook
(facebook/instituteforfutureinsights).
For more information about the services of i4fi please visit the website www.i4fi.com
or send us an email frederic@i4fi.com.
Publications:
“The impact of megatrends on your business” (English, available on Amazon.com)
“De impact van megatrends op uw business” (Dutch, available at Die Keure)
“Jong ondernemend Vlaanderen” (Dutch, available at Die Keure)
Belgian Web Startups Barometer 2012
Bloovi helps the Belgian web scene to shape en grow by informing them, inspire
them and communicate with them. We share knowledge on a daily base, through our
website (www.bloovi.be), social channels, conferences and workshops. We also create
a connection between the online and offline channels. Transparency and knowledge-
sharing are essential components in this process.
Bloovi’s slogan is "News, Knowledge, Inspiration & More".
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