Olga Meaurault with Go-To-Market Wins Inaugural BLC Pitch Evening

On Thursday 4 June 2026, the British Ladies Club (BLC) in Luxembourg held its eagerly-awaited Pitch Evening at the Hall Victor Hugo in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg.

With 100+ people attending the event on the evening, the competition had been arranged to encourage women's entrepreneurship. 

Out of the many who expressed an interest initially, a total of four were chosen to present their business plans on the evening: the other applicants were also invited to attend the event as part of the audience. Those four had been revealed on 10 April following the January launch.

Moderated by Emily Fitzgerald, PR & Marketing Officer at the BLC, Amy Grech, Chair of the BLC, welcomed everyone and presented the mission and objectives of the event. She said that this evening is about courage and vitality, about women entrepreneurs, and the opportunity to network.

Amy Grech, BLC Chair, explained that this initiative initially developed over a dinner conversation a year ago, with questions being asked about how one sets up a business in Luxembourg. She explained that the process was how many projects "take life". She stated that this evening will see four very different early-stage entrepreneurs presenting their project, but she stressed that this evening was the start of something bigger, a new Founder Speaker Series organised by the BLC. 

The British Ambassador to Luxembourg, Joanne Olivier, then spoke on Entrepreneurship in Luxembourg and thanked the BLC for taking the initiative and showcasing women in innovation. She pointed out the wide range of nationalities involved which reflects Luxembourg's international community. She recognised and admired that the BLC was taking a risk with this event, but acknowledged that it was a risk worth taking. She said that she was looking forward to hearing from the female entrepreneurs in the room and hoped that everyone would grasp the opportunity to network with like-minded people. 

The US Ambassador to Luxembourg, Stacey Feinberg, then also spoke, presenting reflections on women entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and the entrepreneurial mindset, including her perspectives from the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. She explained that, unlike Ambassador Olivier, she is not a career diplomat, she works with female founders. She said that female entrepreneurs only attract 4% of seed finance. In the US, entrepreneurship is the American spirit; if it does not work, one gets up and tries again. From an investor's perspective, one business out of ten will succeed and will succeed well. She also talked about women being collaborative and men being competitive, a significant difference. She also talked about hosting events in her residence where she encourages entrepreneurs in dialogue, sharing their experiences. She explained the importance of networking and pitching, and that these attributes outweigh the actual product, always asking "Are you the person to get the job done? Do you have what it takes?".

There was then a live draw of the order of the pitch presentations. 

PRESENTATIONS

Before the audience could hear them, there were a couple of presentations from organisations supporting the event.

Adis Sabanovic from the House of Entrepreneurship spoke on company setup and explained how the organisation is a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurs in the Grand Duchy, emphasising that it "can be alongside you for the entire journey", addressing financial aspects and government subsidies, digitalisation, intellectual property and marketing... He also talked about anticipating failure, what to do to prevent it and what to do if it happens. He also addressed risks associated with starting one's own business, including money, energy, loss of social contacts and more. He concluded by explaining that the cost of a business set-up (licence) is just €50, and talked about how to register for social security, VAT, bank accounts, etc., advising that it takes around two months in total. 

He was followed by Alexandre Wasmes of Banque Raiffeisen who talked about business banking, with the bank wanting to understand the customer's requirements. He said that Raiffeisen is celebrating one hundred years on the market, it is split into retail, private and business banking, and that the bank's philosophy "is all about you". He stressed that what makes them different is proximity to the customer, and knowing the customer. He talked about business onboarding, getting to know the customer, with a structured approach, stressing that it is not a rigid one. He also addressed risk and their approach to credit analysis. 

The three-person judging panel was chaired by Ambassador Olivier, together with Giulia Iannucci (Vice Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg and Deputy CEO of MAQIT, with expertise in branding, strategy and business development and Christine O’Bright (Founder of Bright Futures; certified professional coach and trainer specialising in leadership and transformation).

And the mentors were confirm as being Svetlana Grishankova (Finance and ESG professional, LSE alumna, with over ten years’ experience managing EU-regulated entities; PwC Dragons’ Den prize winner) and Julie Ayres Smith (Transformation and operations specialist with extensive experience in international organisations, focused on execution and scalability).

THE PITCHES

And then it was time for the pitches themselves, with each being given three minutes to present, and another three minutes to answer questions from the judges (in practice, this was a lot longer). All four presenters demonstrated that they knew their service/product inside out, and were great communicators, giving the judges a difficult task.

- Mariya Erokhina (German/Russian): EyeTrustAI, an AI-focused trust and verification concept exploring secure and responsible use of artificial intelligence technologies. She talked about companies using AI but not necessarily understanding the implications, outlining mistakes the solution helps prevent, as well as about her approach to prototyping and costs. 

- Olga Meaurault (Luxembourgish/Russian): Go-To-Market - The Revenue AI Growth Flow, an AI-supported revenue and go-to-market optimisation solution focused on helping businesses improve growth strategy and commercial execution. She talked about there being 734 startups in Luxembourg, all most likely doing traditional business proof-of-concepts. She launched in January this year and already has three start-ups here as clients. She expects she costs to decrease next year as she uses the same agents. 

- Roksana Skubis (Polish): REACLYSE, a sustainability-focused project exploring innovative approaches linked to circularity, analysis and environmental responsibility. She said that many people here in Luxembourg being in a comfort zone. She talked about starting a journal structured into seven chapters which encourages clients to keep going; she can also track progress externally. She launched in January and currently has a traction of 10%. 

- Jess Bauldry (British/Luxembourgish): EarGlasses, an accessibility-oriented wearable concept designed to support communication and sensory assistance through smart technology. She talked about children in Luxembourg getting their first smartphones from as early as eight years old, but without being able to tell the difference between real and fake news, etc. She talked about how her solution provides security as well as teaching media literacy as well as critical thinking and intercultural dialogue. Still in the test phase, it is currently being piloted in Junglinster. 

Wile the jury then deliberated (off-stage), everyone else could enjoy half an hour of networking. The time also featured a Founder Talk / Fireside Chat: Jessica Cooke (Definance), moderated by Emily Fitzgerald.

AWARDS

At the Awards Ceremony, Olga Meaurault (Go-To-Market) was declared the winner and was presented with a €500 cash prize donated by a former BLC Chairperson. In second place was Jess Bauldry (EarGlasses) who was presented with a startup course offered by the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg who run a Women's Entrepreneurship Programme each autumn. 

Ambassador Olivier stressed the high quality of all the presentations and wished all those who entered success in the future.

The judging criteria (the same used throughout the competition) were:

- Problem & Need: Clarity of the problem identified, relevance in the Luxembourg context, and whether the need is well understood and justified.

- Solution & Value Proposition: How clearly the solution addresses the problem and the tangible value it brings to users or customers.

- Target Market: Definition and understanding of the target audience, including realism and relevance to the Luxembourg or cross-border market.

- Feasibility & Implementation: Practicality of execution, including resources, timeline, and ability to deliver in a realistic way.

- Cost Structure & Revenue Logic: Understanding of costs and whether the business model can realistically generate revenue.

- Innovation & Differentiation: Degree of originality and how clearly the project stands out from existing solutions.

- Pitch Quality & Communication: Clarity, structure and ability to communicate the idea effectively within the time given.

Amy Grech, BLC Chair, closed the event by stating that they intend to put on another edition of the BLC Pitch Event next year.

ED

UPDATED to correct the name of the winner