Incubators play a vital role in helping early stage startups establish and flourish. The University of Luxembourg Incubator, which currently works with more than 40 startups, outlines its USP in Luxembourg’s ecosystem.
What’s your elevator pitch?
University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme provides support in bringing the University’s business ideas to the market. Leaders from Luxembourg and abroad are invited as mentors and speakers to support University’s entrepreneurs with their projects. To be incubated at the University of Luxembourg also means having your own offices in Belval and benefiting from a rich infrastructure. University startups get access to a wide network of experts that can help them with registering their company in Luxembourg, engaging with customers and finding funds.
What kinds of startups is your incubator aimed at?
No matter the industry or stage the startup is at, the University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme offer tailor-made support to ambitious startups by high-profile experts from the Luxembourgish ecosystem and beyond. It provides its startups with the first step on the ladder to the entrepreneurial network and full support throughout their maturation process.
How many startups do you onboard and at what intervals?
In its 5 years of existence, the University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme have supported over 60 startup projects, accommodating ever rising demand for our services.
What are the criteria for startups to participate in this incubator?
The support of the University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme is exclusively for current students, alumni and staff members of the University of Luxembourg.
How often does the programme run?
The University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme were launched in 2017 and since then they provide their courses, services and support all year round.
What are the benefits for startups that join?
Startups will get access to Venture Mentoring Service and Accelerator as well as having the possibility to have their offices on our Belval campus. They will also be invited to all the workshops organised by the University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme. All our startups also now have access to $10,000 promotional credits for 2 years for all the services of Amazon Web Services and also 2 months of Amazon Web Services premium business support.
What would you say is the stand out feature of your incubator?
Tailor-made support for all startups regardless of their domain, development stage or any other criteria.
What partnerships does the incubator have?
We work with the majority of the main players in Luxembourg and the greater region ecosystem as well as with our partners from different regions. For example, the University of Luxembourg Incubator partners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to launch the FNR KITS funded Catalyst Luxembourg program.
What is coming up next?
We are excited to work with the new student cohort which we welcomed last September and to see the new ideas and business projects they bring to the University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme. In October, they participated in our business idea competition, My Big Idea, as well as a series of networking Co-Founder Nights. In November we then hosted our 10th Ideation Camp, a hackathon-like event for all the teams selected through My Big Idea competition. Now we are excited to see which ideas will make it to our Venture Mentoring Service and Accelerator.
