Overview
Nicolas Debray is a business angel, board director and ecosystem builder based in Brussels. He has invested in approximately 20 tech startups and sits on the boards of several of them, including Sortlist, Tapio, BeInfluence Europe and Doctor Manager. His investments include Compliment, Smovin, Sylho and Lineal, where he took part in a €500k pre-seed round. In 2009 he co-founded the digital marketing agency Semetis with Gabriel Goldberg. Semetis grew from 2 to more than 50 employees, managed €100 million in ad spend and worked for Proximus, Colruyt, ING, IKEA and Decathlon. In 2019 he co-founded Hakacia, which helps marketing departments adapt, with clients such as Voo, Decathlon, Brico and Dandoy. With Goldberg and a third partner he also bought the Marcom World group. He has taught at ULB and Solvay since 2009 and has been Entrepreneur in Residence at StartLab since 2016. He launched the Speed Scaling program and the Belgium Impact Startup Awards, and now leads the Belgium Startup Awards, whose 2025 edition on June 5 at TheEgg in Brussels selected 49 startups from 81 applications and awarded €100,000 in convertible loans.
Debray studied at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management from 1999 to 2005 and worked at the market research agency Dedicated Research before joining Google Belgium in 2007. He left Google in 2009 to co-found Semetis, sold it to Omnicom in 2015, stayed until the end of 2018 and then moved into angel investing, board work, teaching and ecosystem initiatives, co-founding Hakacia in 2019 and the Belgium Startup Awards.
As an angel investor, Nicolas provides capital and mentorship to early-stage founders, drawing on his tech and product background from Google. He is active in Brussels startup events and networks.
Insights & ideas
The through-line
Nicolas Debray's writing keeps circling back to one idea: the Belgian startup ecosystem is built by connecting people and capital who otherwise stay in separate silos, students and founders, business angels and operators, Wallonia and Flanders, Belgium and its neighbors. Early posts frame this through personal metaphor, tracing a line from streetball on Brussels playgrounds to "the boardroom" and describing how "the intensity of streetball never really leaves you" [1]. Over the run of posts the focus shifts from personal narrative toward infrastructure and policy: chronicling the physical construction of WAT.BXL as a tech hub [3][6][13], organizing roadshows to funnel graduates into startups [2][7], and pushing for regulatory fixes on stock option taxation [5][9]. Alongside this, a separate thread of candor emerges in his "Untold stories of a Business Angel" series, where he walks through a deal that did not work out, admitting plainly "Did I make a ton of money? No" [4].
On building bridges
Debray describes ecosystem-building explicitly as connective work rather than a solo pursuit: "Building a startup ecosystem isn't a solo game. It's about connecting the dots across borders" [12]. For the Belgium Startup Ecosystem, he states "it's all about building bridges" and that "Tangible value is created when we connect the right stakeholders" [2]. This shows up concretely in the WAT.BXL project, where instead of waiting for a 10,000 square meter hub to finish construction, the team ran a live MVP, "Connecting talent, founders and stakeholders from day one" [3]. The same logic drives the graduate roadshow with FirstMovers and Student Team, aimed at making "the innovation and startup economy the #1 destination for top Belgian graduates" [2][7].
On stock options and taxation
Debray treats employee stock options as core startup infrastructure, not a perk: "Stock options are an easy tool for startups to open and share their capital with their key employees... It's a great tool to align all the interests in the long term. It's not a quick hack" [5]. He pairs this with a pointed critique of Belgian tax treatment, framing the math starkly: "Up to 60% of taxes. About 70% chance of making 0€. Shouldn't we change that?!" and calling directly for "a special Startup Regime for Stock Options" [5][9]. He also points outward for comparison, noting that Luxembourg "has agreed to upgrade its ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) framework, paving a clear fiscal pathway to attract top minds" [12].
On being a business angel
Debray is candid that angel investing is a financial activity with a return expectation, not charity: "The drive is definitely about giving back, learning and elevating people. But a startup has responsibilities... and money has value. It remains a financial activity, not philanthropy" [10]. His retelling of a specific deal walks through both the discipline and the disappointment: negotiating terms so that "As a business angel, I accepted fewer shares with a high valuation but protected my downside with a liqpref" [4], while ultimately conceding "Did I make a ton of money? No. Unfortunately I did not succeed in elevating the project to another level" [4]. He also details the operational strain that followed a capital raise, noting that "€30k MRR doesn't cover many salaries" once a fully loaded cost per FTE is factored in [14].
Takeaways
- When negotiating a deal with a high pre-money valuation, secure a liquidity preference to protect downside as an investor [4]
- Belgian founders should treat stock options as an alignment tool, not a quick hack or bonus substitute [5]
- Advocate for a dedicated startup stock option tax regime given the current combination of up to 60% taxation and roughly 70% odds of zero payout [5][9]
- Use graduate-facing roadshows (with partners like FirstMovers and Student Team) to funnel talent directly into startups rather than established employers [2][7]
- Launch a functioning MVP of a hub or program during buildout instead of waiting for the space or product to be fully finished [3]
- Treat angel investing as a financial activity with real return expectations, even while emphasizing mentorship and giving back [10]
In the news
- Something new is brewing Founders First Antwerpen The true game-changer isn't just funding or ambition, it’s the bridges we build between them. When you bring together the right minds in a room with zero fluff, you unlock something powerful: shared vision, cross-pollination, and lasting momentum for everyone. That is why we are curating something special next month. Thursday, October 15th, we are heading to Antwerpen for an exclusive, private founders’ gathering designed around authentic connection and long-term value creation!
- BOOM. We are taking the Belgium Startup Awards (BSA27) And the Startup Day to an entirely new dimension 🚀 We’re teaming up with the best to create the ultimate Family Reunion. Belgium has the talent. Let’s connect and keep growing our ambition. Our core mission has always been clear: build bridges across every corner of the Belgian ecosystem so any founder in Belgium can build a world-class company. To turn that vision into reality, we need spaces where tangible value is created for everyone, founders, investors, talent,
- Once someone told me: Talk is cheap. Intentions don't build anything. Action does. Too often, we talk about connecting talent and innovation across Belgium. But building bridges doesn't happen from behind a desk. It happens on the ground, face-to-face, city by city. That’s why we’re hitting the road to make it real. Alongside Student, FirstMovers and Liantis, we are embarking on a nationwide roadshow across 5 Belgian cities: 📍 Antwerpen — The Beacon | Innovation Community - Oct 7 📍 Charleroi — A6K - Oct 8 📍 Liège —
- Women in Business 💪 Let’s bring ALL our entrepreneurs together. At Belgium Startup Ecosystem, our vision has always been to break down silos, connect regions and align founders, investors, corporates, experts, talent, public, politics around one common ambition: growth. For the next edition of the Belgium Startup Awards (BSA27), we are taking that conviction a step further. We are committing to actively engage with female founder networks and communities across the country to seek out, encourage, and massively boost applications
- But what’s going on? Right from behind the scene! Something big is taking shape and we’re building momentum. When building bridges, sharing is caring. We’re now laying the foundations of another important bridge. Bright. Inspirational. Full of positive energy! With Sophie Verhulst we can’t wait to tell you more... Let's scale it up! 👏
- Hiring or job searching? Join us on the Road. Startups' ecosystem is booming. Limited seats available! Our mission is simple: make the Belgian startup economy the #1 destination for top talent. When we unite our brightest graduates with the innovators shaping tomorrow, everybody wins. High-growth startups gain the firepower they need and ambitious young professionals find direct pathways into high-impact careers in tech, finance, law, VC, public policy, … That’s why we’re launching the Back-to-School Roadshow: 5 Dates, 5 Cities
- Can you guess? What are these 2 planning? 😁 … Friday, I had one of those video calls that simply energizes you for the days ahead. A deep, inspiring conversation with Sophie Verhulst. You know that feeling when two visions just click? When you realize you're about to build something impactful together for the entire community? That was exactly it. Sophie is not only an entrepreneur herself, she’s also driving impact daily as Program Manager at Belgium’s leading startup accelerator at Start it @CBC | Start it Accelerate | @KBC . She
- Why did I join Kando Care? First of all, because its founder, François-Xavier Dalle Rive, came to me personally more than a year ago, during the very first edition of the Belgium Startup Ecosystem event — a nod to Nicolas Debray — just as he was starting a fundraising round. Together with Ellie Gonay, he shared a clear and compelling vision of how technology — voice technology combined with AI — could significantly improve the care and follow-up of residents in nursing homes. Having experienced the reality of a nursing home
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