On 10 July 2017, the Digital Tech Fund presented its first start-up funds to two young businesses, each receiving investment worth €500,000.

The Digital Tech Fund, set up as a start-up fund, was set up in 2016 jointly by the Ministry of the Economy and a group of private investors to support the financing and development of young innovative business start-ups.

Of the more than 2,000 files analysed during the past 12 months, over 200 have been considered for investment by the Digital Tech Fund. Finally, two foreign companies were selected.

At a press conference yesterday, the first two holdings of the fund were presented for €500,000 each. The first benefactor was beneficiary was Itravel, the first tour operator whose value chain is entirely digital. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, the company operates an online tourism platform offering the possibility to compose around 4,600 long-distance journeys adapted to the individual travel sensations sought by the customer. The second, Nekrtria, which is based in Barcelona, ​ has developed a digital logistics platform that both optimises online ordering and reduces product delivery costs.

Alain Rodermann, founding member of Expon Capital, which manages the Digital Tech Fund, said: "The two start-ups will contribute positively to the emergence of a virtuous ecosystem in Luxembourg."

Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Étienne Schneider, who was present at the event, declared that these are positive results for the fund’s first year. He added that the fund will “contribute significantly to the creation of an innovative and efficient ecosystem in the Grand Duchy."

Additionally, Axel Schmiegelow, CEO of itravel commented: "We will continue our international expansion from Luxembourg where we will establish a new operation centre that aims to acquire markets in 10 different countries. In addition to a high-level technological infrastructure to achieve our goal, we need a highly skilled and multilingual workforce. The Grand Duchy fulfils these two criteria perfectly."

Photo by MECO. L-R: Guy Harles, Investor Committee, Digital Tech Fund; Javier Juncadella, CEO of Nektria; Axel Schmiegelow, CEO of itravel; Alain Rodermann, founding member of Expon Capital; Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy; Mario Grotz, Ministry of Economy; Michele Gallo, Ministry of Economy