About the Founders

EpiGaN was incorporated in 2010 by Marianne Germain, Stefan Degroote and Joff Derluyn, as a spin-off of imec. It focuses on providing world-leading III-nitride epitaxial material solutions for top performance devices. EpiGaN gives device manufacturers access to a unique, proven and powerful technology to be used in key market segments such as power supplies for consumables, hybrid electric vehicles, solar inverters, RF power for base stations, smart grid....
The founders benefited from the entrepreneurial experience of SO Kwadraat vzw. The team of SO Kwadraat vzw are themselves succesful enterpreneurs and pass on their experience to the next generation. They have, in their own start-ups, experienced the importance of being able to seek qualified advice. They support, for free, technology start-ups in tasks such as defining the business concept, writing business plans and creating a financial plan, looking for private equity and preparing legal documents for the notary. In a relaxed atmosphere, they offer starting enterpreneurs plenty of practical advice.

CEO Marianne Germain, PhD
Marianne is an electrical engineer and was responsible for the GaN program at imec for almost 10 years.

COO Stefan Degroote, PhD
Stefan is a physicist and was responsible at imec for the III-V epitaxy, based on both MOCVD and MBE, for more than 10 years.

CTO Joff Derluyn, PhD
Joff is an electrical engineer and was responsible at imec for the III-nitride device characterisation and processing.