Here’s a review of the announcement of the startup delegation that will fly to the largest consumer technologies show in January. A few days ago, there was an American atmosphere in Luxembourg. Luxfactory’s team unveiled the selection of startups that will have the chance to exhibit and represent the country during the CES, the world’s largest tech event.
Image Credits: CES
Once again, Luxfactory will organize the Luxembourg Pavilion in the heart of Eureka Park. On a huge central stand of 100 sqm, the startuppers will have the chance to exhibit their products to the eyes of people from around the world. Great decision makers, investors, big corporates and creators building the world of tomorrow meet every year at the CES to find the best technologies to invest in. “There is no other show like this one. All big players, European ones included, will rediscover the huge potential of the Made In Luxembourg innovation. It is an incredible adventure made possible by our team and partners’’, says Elodie Trojanowski, CEO and co-founder of Luxfactory.
In 2019, the CES welcomed 182,000 professionals, 1,000 speakers and 6,545 journalists. The Luxembourg National Pavilion by Luxfactory, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, had 16 startups and more than 40 participants. Afterworks and pitch sessions were organized by Luxfactory in collaboration with the Francophone Village. “From the name “Village” we have changed to “Pavilion”. This is important for us because it means that the initiative taken by Luxfactory two years ago and our organisation has been recieved positively. A beautiful community is created each year between Luxembourg participants within the CES,’’ explains Luxfactory’s CEO and co-founding partner. “It is a great experience I’d recommend to any entrepreneur. Exhibitors were also able to establish numerous commercial contacts and partnerships at the show and many of the startups that came to Las Vegas with us raised money in the months that followed: CarpayDiem, CoinPlus, Aiva, ClearImage to name a few.’’
“In 2019, the Luxembourg startup LuxAI won the European CES 2019 Innovation Award in the category “Tech for a Better World”. Koosmik received the Coup de cœur from the jury of the Village Francophone.”
This year, Luxfactory is official partner of the Francophone Village and MyGlobal Village. These two entities organize some unmissable events in Las Vegas in parallel with the show and will help Luxfactory to organize the planning of the delegation members. Through 17 sectoral groups – SmartMobility, SmartSupply, PropTech, etc. – villages are now the essential places for B2B meetings with guided tours of the show, major networking events and pitch sessions. “This third year of participation will allow twenty Luxembourg startups to present their products. As with every year, we want to make Luxembourg and its participants in the Pavilion shine. We also wish to launch an appeal to government representatives. It is important to us that they accompany us in order to show their support for the companies in the region, offer them even more visibility and act as ambassadors for the spirit of innovation that is tending to develop in Luxembourg,’’ explains Elodie Trojanowski. Last year, the Villages benefited from the presence of major players in innovation such as Philippe Mouloubou, Chairman of the Executive Board of Enedis, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation of Quebec or Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. In 2020, Luxembourg will be in charge of the SpaceTech and FinTech clusters.
Isn’t the CES oversized compared to Luxembourg’s startups? This is the question we naturally ask ourselves. With the number of tech events exploding in Europe, why travel so far? The answer seems very clear to Mrs Trojanowski. “We must stop underestimating Luxembourg’s startups. The last edition formally showed this. Our startups have nothing to be ashamed of. In 2019, the Luxembourg startup LuxAI won the European CES 2019 Innovation Award in the category “Tech for a Better World”. Koosmik received the Coup de cœur from the jury of the Village Francophone. The selection of startups is made by Luxfactory and, this year, by our sponsors. The Luxfactory team, after two participations, masters CTA’s criteria. They are very strict in their choice because they want above all to maintain the reputation of CES, the world’s largest technology fair. Only the most beautiful products are on display. We are required to respect the standing imposed by the CTA.”
“It is important to make appointments in advance: whether it is fundraising or meeting major corporates. All the companies that enable entrepreneurs to dream today will be there.”
How should a startup prepare itself to face the “madness” of the CES ? “It is important to book hotels and flights quickly. Communicating on your participation is a guarantee of quality when you are selected by CTA. It is important to make appointments in advance with interesting people according to your needs: whether it is fundraising or meeting major corporates. All the companies that enable entrepreneurs to dream today will be there. You have to organize your time well and come with 2 or 3 people to be able to multiply the appointments both on and off the stand to develop opportunities”, concluded Elodie Trojanowski.
We also asked one of the startups selected last year to explain to us the advantages of participating. “Mu Design designs, develops and markets products halfway between robotics and the Internet of Things. We create the new generation of connected objects : the emotive-tech. This will be our second time participating in the CES. We will present the final version of Lua for the first time. The idea is to find distributors and get our products talked about. The next steps will then be a more sustained and international commercial development as well as the creation of a V2 of our flagship product Ulo,” says Vivien Muller, Mu-Design CEO.
Here are the 19 other companies that will fly to Las Vegas in January. Not all of them are from Luxembourg. In this case, they either have an interest in the Luxembourgish market or are part of an acceleration programme/network of partners.
Luxembourg
- Adapti
- ANote Music
- Bondweaver
- F4A
- Global Jet Booking
- Ibisa
- Koosmik
- Motion-S
- Mu Design
- Phoenici
- Property Token
- REDscue
- Stokr
- Virtual Rangers
- Yotako
Belgium
France
Italy
