15 start-ups from 9 different countries have been selected for participation in the 13th edition of start-up accelerator Fit 4 Start. In addition to 6 months of coaching, pre-seed funding and access to all the key players of the Luxembourg start-up ecosystem, participants will also be encouraged to look into how their products and services can have a positive sustainable impact. In addition, the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies joins the programme as a new partner.
After two years of digital pitching sessions, Fit 4 Start was back with its traditional onsite pitching event on 26 and 27 October, hosted at Arch Summit, the flagship tech event of accelerator Tomorrow Street. 67 preselected start-ups pitched their business ventures to a jury composed of experts, seasoned entrepreneurs and investors who selected the 10 digital/data-driven and 5 healthtech start-ups that together will make up the 13th Fit 4 Start cohort.
The participants will benefit from 6 months of personalised coaching, ample networking opportunities and pre-seed funding of €50,000 from the Ministry of the Economy. Successful graduates from the programme who manage to raise private capital have the possibility of receiving another €100,000. The more than 300 applications received from start-ups in 58 different countries clearly confirm the international renown of the Fit 4 Start programme.
"Start-ups have an important role to play in supporting the sustainable transition of our economy to a more digital and green economy. This edition of Fit 4 Start will therefore also include awareness raising activities and specialised coaching on how participating business ventures can have a positive sustainable impact,” says Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot.
"The tagline of this year's edition of Arch Summit, 'innovation with impact', perfectly reflects our ambition with Fit 4 Start. We want the programme to have a real, concrete impact on the start-ups that take part. Our ultimate aim, as a government-funded agency and programme manager, is that their successful development in Luxembourg will help frame our economy of the future in a sustainable as well as competitive manner, with the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a point of reference,” says Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation.
Fit 4 Start is initiated and managed by the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and national innovation agency Luxinnovation with support from Technoport, the Luxembourg-City Incubator, LuxProvide and the most recent partner, the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (LHoFT).
"LHoFT is the expert entity of the Luxembourg fintech ecosystem, and will be a valuable partner for Fit 4 Start. We look forward to creating further value for our innovative start-ups in the field of financial technologies together with them,” comments Stefan Berend, Head of Start-up Acceleration at Luxinnovation.
Selected start-ups
Digital/data driven
2AM – Advanced Materials & Additive Manufacturing (Latvia) DèsVu Stays (Luxembourg) DPhi (Belgium) Eyrene (USA) Fundis ESG (Luxembourg) Gonuggets (Luxembourg) Stargate RTK (Estonia) U Impact (Germany) Warden Machinery (Latvia) Wiretwin (Luxembourg)
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Health technologies
Poly Diagnostics (Ukraine) Posture AI (Korea) Surge (France) VSPINE / MDSIM (Belgium) Wavymeet (Luxembourg) |
Press release by the Ministry of the Economy/ Luxinnovation