The start-up conditions for young innovative companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector could be set to improve with a new assistance programme launched today by the Luxembourg Government.
This new 'Fit4Start' programme has been developed by the Ministry of the Economy, in partnership with the Luxinnovation GIE agency and in collaboration with the Technoport business incubator.
Through the provision of funding and specifically-adapted coaching, 'Fit4Start' will aim to offer support in the initial stages of start-ups which have been established less than twelve months ago and are comprised of at least two people. The programme helps participating companies create functional prototypes of their products, validate with clients and more easily attract investors.
The programme, to span a four-month period, will provide for public funding of €50,000 under condition of a private contribution of €10,000; free accommodation at the national incubator Technoport; coaching and weekly monitoring conducted by experts following the 'lean startup' methodology; and a release event allowing participants to pitch their project and potentially raise funds for it.
Admission for the 'Fit4Start' programme will be conducted via a biannual competition, following which a jury will evaluate and eventually select five companies to join the programme. For the first edition, the jury panel was comprised of Robert Glaesener, CEO of Trendiction; Nicolas Henckes, Secretary-General of the UEL; and Marco Houwen, CEO of BHS Services.
The first three start-ups in the programme each presented their project at the launch, these being Bitbank, a secure digital data storage platform; Houser, a platform for the comparison and analysis of real estate; and Sport50, a management platform for sporting associations.
These three start-ups will be supported by two specialised coaches, Carl Danneels and Michel Duchateau, who were selected for the project from among a dozen experts. The participating companies will be expected to report on their project progress with a reporting and monitoring tool.
"Fit4Start meets a strong need which comes up regularly in exchanges we have with start-ups, that being overcoming the challenge of funding from the outset," commented Laurent Federspiel, Head of Technology & Business Development Department and Executive Consultant at Luxinnovation. "If this pilot edition proves successful, the future objective will be to internationalise the programme to attract more talents to Luxembourg".
"This new public aid instrument is tailored to the specific needs of start-ups in the ICT sector," added Secretary of State for the Economy, Francine Closener. "Fit4Start contributes to further completing a favourable climate for the development of this sector which plays the role of transversal facilitator permeating almost every area of economic activity".
Photo by Luxinnovation (Secretary of State for the Economy, Francine Closener)
