Ten ICT start-ups, five companies in the healthtech sector and five in space tech were admitted into Luxembourg’s renowned acceleration programme Fit 4 Start at the Pitching & Graduation Day on 3 October 2019. The biggest ever cohort of participants will benefit from intensive coaching, free access to co-working facilities and a subsidy of up to €150,000.
Fit 4 Start is today an internationally recognised programme for innovative start-ups with a strong drive to succeed. The objective is to select the most promising start-ups and give them access to early-stage financing and personalised coaching.
“We truly welcome young disruptive companies”
Managed by Luxinnovation in partnership with Technoport, Luxembourg City Incubator, the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and the House of BioHealth under the guidance of the Ministry of the Economy, the programme is an essential component of Luxembourg’s strategy to develop its start-up community. “We truly welcome young disruptive companies because they fit into our economy,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Étienne Schneider when opening the graduation ceremony.
"You need foolish ideas if you want to be successful."
Referring to its evolution from a rather poor farmers’ country to a major financial centre and today a leader in the field of commercial space activities, the minister claimed that Luxembourg has always been a start-up nation. “You need foolish ideas if you want to be successful,” he said. “My message tonight is to believe in your ideas and in yourselves. Be courageous and visionary – only people who take risks in life will succeed.”
ICT, healthtech, space
Launched in 2015, Fit 4 Start first addressed Luxembourg and foreign start-ups in the information and communication technology sector. For the second time, the autumn 2019 edition of the programme offers a track dedicated to health technologies. In line with Luxembourg’s ambitions in the new space field, this edition was also open to space technology start-ups. “Remember: space is the medium, not the product,” said Peter Platzer, CEO of space company Spire that is opening its data lake to the Fit 4 Start participants in the space track. “There is no investment in space, only in companies that use space to solve problems on earth.”
20 start-ups were admitted onto the programme:
Space technologies:
- 3Dfarms (United States)
- GlobeEye (France)
- Ilumbra (Luxembourg)
- RespectUS (Luxembourg)
- WEO (Germany)
ICT:
- Anote Music (Luxembourg)
- CheckMath (Luxembourg)
- Cubbit (Italy)
- DataCue (Singapore)
- I-Warranty (United Kingdom)
- Quantego (Luxembourg)
- Rebolet (Germany)
- Symvio (Luxembourg)
- Vocally.fm (Italy)
- WearHealth (Germany)
Health technologies:
The participants will benefit from 16 weeks of coaching starting already next month as well as a subsidy of €50,000 by the Ministry of the Economy.
Six graduates
Fit 4 Start participants benefit from the support of specialised coaches as well as from the mentorship of the experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that make up the selection jury. Six companies from the spring 2019 edition successfully graduated:
- Abar
- Food 4 All
- FireFly
- Gamma AR
- RoomMate
- Rafinex
Graduated companies that manage to raise at least €50,000 of private investment will benefit from an additional €100,000 from the Ministry of the Economy.
