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Text by KASIA KRZYZANOWSKI
Photography by MIKE ZENARI
HATCHING A PLAN FOR STARTUPS The Grand Duchy’s government wants the country to become an international startup hub. These innovation nurseries could help make that happen.
T
he past year has been full of new developments and announcements for Luxembourg’s burgeoning startup scene. This spring alone, a group of four incubators and acceleration platforms launched, joining established incubators such as Technoport, Lux Future Lab and Nyuko in providing support to startups through their first months and years.
AN INCUBATOR FOR MOBILITY ALD Automotive, a subsidiary of the French bank Société Générale, is a fleet management and car-leasing company active around the world. Interested in gaining more agility and recognising the opportunities that working with startups could offer, it launched the new startup incubator called Shaker, in partnership with Technoport, at its Luxembourg location in May. Shaker will provide incubation to three mobility-focused startups at a time, offering private offices for a small rental fee, access to company facilities, and customised support in product and company development. A unique feature is that
the startups will be fully integrated into company life. “This is already having a big impact on our company culture,” says Pierre-Yves Meert, marketing and innovation manager for ALD Automotive Luxembourg. Each startup can stay for up to two years, giving them time to run a pilot, get their first results and launch on the market. The first two startups, CarCoach and CarPay-Diem, have recently moved in, and although both offer car-related services, Meert emphasises that alternative mobility is also a key focus of ALD, as it works to diversify its offering. “It’s important to think outside of the box and come up with new solutions, as we can’t keep putting a maximum number of cars on the road,” he explains. Although starting out small, Meert sees Shaker becoming an international network of incubators, as ALD entities across the globe begin to show interest, and he also hopes to see the creation of a local association of Luxembourg-based incubators in the near future.
BUILDING ON INDUSTRY Another example of the new trend towards diversification of the startup ecosystem is InCub, from the international industrial engineering firm Paul Wurth. Building on a long
tradition of innovation, the company also launched the initiative in partnership with Technoport. Aimed at small companies and startups in industrial technologies (#indutech, as coined by the company), it offers private offices at an affordable price located next door to Paul Wurth headquarters in Hollerich, as well as standard business consulting and coaching package provided by partners and tailor-made support from the firm itself. “It’s more of an accelerator than an incubator, as the goal is to validate and fine-tune an industrial prototype or concept,” explains Sébastien Wiertz, InCub general manager. “If a startup has only an idea, they will first go to Technoport before joining InCub.” Once the startup has a proof of concept ready, Paul Wurth will help to accelerate their go-to-market, involving different engineers within the company. “There are five different topics in the call [for submissions], all within the domain of Paul Wurth, but they are different worlds,” explains Wiertz. InCub announced the results of its first call in mid-June, accepting more than a dozen startups active in the “smart buildings”, “energy related technologies” and “advanced logistics” spaces, among others.
SÉBASTIEN WIERTZ Benefits flow in two directions
2007 CASE STUDY
TALKWALKER How one local startup successfully graduated from its incubator
Thibaut Britz starts working on a new social media monitoring tool in Zurich.
THREE MONTHS LATER
Britz is joined by future co-founder Christophe Folschette and moves back to Luxembourg. “For me, the choice was clear to set up in Luxembourg. Administrations are proactive, people are very international, it’s wellconnected and very central,” says Britz.
Summer 2016
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