On Monday 17 January, the ministers received a warm welcome at the House of Startups where they visited the newly accommodated maison de l’économie social et de l’innovation sociale (MeSIS) and listened to the pitches of the promising and innovative startups.
Hosting more than 170 startups, the House of Startups is an essential hub for Luxembourg’s ecosystem. Powered by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce it is no surprise that Franz Fayot, the Minister of the Economy and Georges Engel, the Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy pop by every now and then to make sure things are running smoothly.
Launched in 2018 with the aim of federating and supporting the startup ecosystem, the House of Startups brings together many important local players. These include the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT), the Luxembourg-City Incubator (LCI), “Le Village by CA”, the international incubator of the Crédit Agricole Group, as well as the International Climate Finance Accelerator (ICFA) and, most recently, the MeSIS.
The Minister of the Economy appeared pleased with their visit, declaring that “The Luxembourg startup ecosystem has grown steadily over the past few years and now includes more than 500 startups.” He continues, “The House of Startups is a key infrastructure that effectively complements the services and support programmes offered to startups by Luxinnovation and my departments at the Ministry of the Economy.”
La @host_lu est une infrastructure clé qui complémente efficacement l’offre de services et les programmes d’accompagnements qui sont proposés aux startups notamment par @Luxinnovation & @minecolux @startupluxembourg https://t.co/GpfXeTBJRP
— Franz Fayot (@FranzFayot) January 18, 2022
More Solidarity And Social Entrepreneurship
Having recently moved from its seat at the Côte d’Eich, the MeSIS has been housed in the LCI since October 2021. Set up by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy in 2018, it reflects the government’s desire to engage in more social entrepreneurship.
“Since its opening in 2018, the MeSIS has been the place of reference and exchange for all those interested social and solidarity economy. The One-Stop-Shop has been able to accompany budding social entrepreneurs and thus contribute to the creation of 40 societal impact companies,” says Georges Engel.
As Luxembourg continues dealing with social issues such as climate change, it will be interesting to see how MeSIS will respond to this challenge because, as George Engel rightly says, “the social and solidarity economy also has its role to play.”
As usual, a ministerial visit is also always an opportunity for startups to shine and get some well-deserved exposure. This time around, the lucky startups included No Big Deal, Vingineers, Waves, GreenWorlder and Zortify, all of which have either qualified for the Fit 4 Start programme or have been identified as innovative young companies.
Concluding the visit, Carlo Thill, the President of the House of Startups had an import point to make about the resilience of the Luxembourgish ecosystem: “Despite the current crisis, I am proud to see that many entrepreneurs have mobilised to develop high value-added projects. This underlines their dynamism and resilience. They are representative of a vision of innovation that is both present and future in Luxembourg.”
