InnoHub, A New Innovation Platform In Luxembourg

InnoHub Luxembourg is a private platform designed to support and offer guidance to innovative startup businesses. To do this, InnoHub adopts a methodological and entrepreneurial approach.

(Featured Image: InnoHub’s launch event / Image Credit: Olivier Minaire / Silicon Luxembourg)

Supporting young promising startups

InnoHub proactively looks for young promising startups abroad and then offers them a soft landing platform in Luxembourg. The process involves the startups and advisors from InnoHub jointly identifying all of the elements required for the startups to rapidly develop and strengthen their business models and implement a go-to-market strategy that ensures the protection of their advanced technology. In this context, each startup goes through a methodological evaluation process to clearly identify the opportunities and threats with respect to its business model. The startups are also put in direct contact with identified experts of InnoHub partner network in order to optimize all aspects of the launch and growth of the future company.

InnoHub aims to also support companies beyond the startup phase by helping them take advantage of all the synergies created with other stakeholders and players of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and public sector in Luxembourg.

InnoHub was launched in 2015 by three private companies from Luxembourg: Exxus, Ines Media, and MindForest. Exxus is a consulting company that advises in the areas of innovation, marketing and strategic development, Ines Media is a communications consulting company, and MindForest offers a wide range of consulting services including change management. Having tested and proven its model, InnoHub decided to officially launch in April 2016.

InnoHub is characterized by its pragmatic business approach. It is important to clearly understand the specific objectives of each entrepreneur, to confront the realities of the market, to identify all of the tools that could support the launch and development of each startup, and then proceed in a structured and organized manner. Any organizational delays or unnecessary administrative delays can jeopardize the success of an entrepreneur’s project. All the partners around the table must move forward in a coordinated and focused way.

An entrepreneurial approach

InnoHub has thorough knowledge of the Luxembourg market and the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The richness and diversity of the existing ecosystem is vital for the startup projects that InnoHub supervises. InnoHub thus integrates well into the current startup landscape that has seen a series of efforts undertaken in recent years by public authorities and by entrepreneurs. InnoHub proposes to fill an identified gap in the value chain and to participate in the collective effort to create a Luxembourg Startup Nation, with tangible prospects for both the innovative startup projects and the startups’ dedicated partners.

The range of services offered by InnoHub can be summarized as follows:

• identification of promising startups and advocacy of the Luxembourg entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• methodological evaluation of the business plan;
• strategic support to define the innovation strategy, marketing strategy, market access strategy, etc.;
• implementation of innovative projects;
• mentoring on administrative matters and facilitation with administrative procedures;
• assistance with finding investors (VC, PE
• networking with expert partners; and
• support with respect to the development of commercial activity (through the establishment of a proof of concept, linking with potential customers, etc.)

All this support is offered both in Luxembourg and abroad.

A wide range of partners

One of the cornerstones of the services offered is the availability of advanced skills and experience found on InnoHub platform. InnoHub first relies on the expertise of its three founding members: Exxus, Ines Media and MindForest. Then, InnoHub has the advantage of being able to create and utilize a network of preferred partners, which brings together some of the most famous companies in Luxembourg and abroad including: the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, Telindus, NautaDuthilh, Muller & Associés, Hypallages, Vendimus, Vianeo, Traxxion, Tika Management, Tribe Global, Interact, Quest, and Concept Factory.

InnoHub has already attracted the attention and interest of many international investors such as the Foster Institut in Frankfurt.  The strength of InnoHub model lies in its combined support from private advisors and entrepreneurs. InnoHub sees entrepreneurs who talk to other entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs supporting other entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs who share common issues. Preliminary figures give good reason to support InnoHub model: they already support 21 startups coming from ten different countries (including Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, France, Israel, Singapore, United States, Spain, etc.) and 3 continents. They have raised €9 million and the startups they have supported have already created 30 jobs in Luxembourg, implemented six innovative projects and filed 34 patent applications. Motivated by the growing interest for its platform, InnoHub now intends to speed up and systematize its support, in order to be able to respond to the growing demand for its services, as well as the needs of more specialized companies.