The founders of 20 promising technology startups celebrated on Thursday after being selected for the fourteenth Fit 4 Start acceleration programme.
The celebrations were merited after a nail-biting three days spent pitching at Luxembourg Venture Days at Lux Expo The Box.
The 20 were selected from 356 applications spanning close to 60 countries, a list that was whittled down to 65 startups which were invited to pitch and also attend a closed event on 17 October for startup ecosystem players.
The jury selected 11 startups in the digital sector, five in healthtech and four in space.
Digital Ventures
Äerd Lab: This Luxembourg startup 3D prints sustainable, clay-based, self-drying bricks and accommodation, made using robotic arms, drones and locally sourced materials, even in remote and hard-to-reach locations.
Climate Camp: A Belgian collaborative sustainability platform for the Food & Beverage industry simplifying Scope 3 emissions management through supplier engagement on emissions data, targets and action plans.
Code Clarity: A Luxembourg startup helping to enhance product security, reduce cybersecurity costs, prioritize active development as well as increase licence compliance, across all languages, via an innovative plugin system.
Fabst Wines: A Luxembourg startup connecting winemakers and consumers via an AI and data-driven platform offering personalised, individual taste profiles for enthusiasts and data analytical insights for winemakers.
Invoport: A Luxembourg fundtech whose platform digitises the daily investment funds operations to increase productivity and improve the quality of deliverables such as financial reporting, while providing the investors with an online portal to monitor the fund performance.
Kapital: A Luxembourg fintech providing tools for capital allocators so that it is easier, less time consume and ten times cheaper to raise and deploy capital.
Kaveat: A US based startup whose AI-powered contracting platform simplifies and automates the contract lifecycle for media and entertainment companies, by offering data-driven insights, industry benchmarks, and automatic AI-redlined contracts.
MON5: An Italian cyber security startup protecting connected industrial equipment and factories from hacker attacks.
reLi Energy: A German software solutions startup focused on optimising energy storage systems through smart management. By optimising battery operations, it claims to be able to extend battery life up to 35% and increases profits by up to 70%.
Safe AI: A South Korean mobility tech that retrofits heavy vehicles and site operations with autonomous technology to enable safer, more productive worksites.
Trace Crystal: A University of Luxembourg spin-off whose novel traceability solution enables companies and individuals to fight counterfeiting.
Health
INVITROLIZE: A spin-off from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Invitrolize has recreated an in vitro model of the alveolar, the deepest region of the lungs, to test and identify respiratory sensitisers.
Polly: This US startup provides neurocare solutions for patients and healthcare providers through a generative AI platform that acts as an independent brain, providing personalised assistance to both patients and their care team to create higher continuity, independence, and quality of care.
PsyTech VR: A US-founded mental health and wellness system providing scenario-based VR micro-training and personalised immersive experiences to help users overcome negative emotions, including fears, phobias, anxieties.
Relisten by REcog: A Spanish medical note taking automation software based on AI that specialises in in-person, multi-language patient-doctor interactions to generate structured, medical-language clinical notes.
Sonia: A German B2B SaaS solution automating medical documentation and coding for dentists, halfing costs and enabling them to free up to 25% of their time for additional treatments.
Space
BeyondEX: A Polish spacetech turning space data into natural language conversation through an AI-driven platform. The solution helps businesses make data-backed decisions with simple queries.
Symbiose Management: A French fintech using space technology related to the natural environment to improve transparency and support sustainable finance.
Thermalytica: Japanese technology firm whose cutting-edge superinsulation material can be used for space and terrestrial applications.
Uplift360: A Luxembourg/British defence and sustainability startup developing chemical recycling solutions to break down and reuse advanced materials commonly used in space applications.
Under the accelerator programme, which is now in its eighth year, the 20 startups will undergo a six-month period of support, during which they will receive €50k from the Luxembourg economy ministry. Companies that complete the programme and successfully raise funds can receive up to an additional €100,000 in state aid.
Announcing the selected startups on 19 October, Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation which manages the programme, said that the eagerly awaited pilot project for a scale-up version of Fit 4 Start would be operational at the start of 2024. She said that she hoped it would “gain the same strong reputation as Fit 4 Start, propelling our ecosystem to new heights.”
