We met with Pol Goetzinger, Managing Director of InnoHub. In this interview Pol Goetzinger discusses the genesis of the idea to support startups, through the establishment of an economic interest group or national and international partnerships. He also reveals the ins and outs of this new innovation platform, which helps mature startups seek funding and expand internationally.
(Featured Image: Pol Goetzinger, Managing Director of InnoHub / Image Credit : Olivier Minaire)
What is INNOHUB?
Before going into the details of InnoHub, it is important to understand the positioning of InnoHub within the national and international ecosystems.
To begin with, InnoHub is a new private company, proactively seeking late stage startups abroad that can benefit from resources in Luxembourg. Secondly, InnoHub offers fast and pragmatic solutions that meet the specific needs of startups. And the third element of my response, from the standpoint of the national ecosystem and this dynamic Startup Nation, is that, just like a new piston added to an engine makes the engine a little more powerful, InnoHub aims to help kick Luxembourg Startup Nation up a notch.
We identify promising startups abroad, raise awareness of the advantages of the Luxembourg ecosystem, and help startups find the funding they need and support them from Luxembourg with their international go-to-market strategy.
Functionally, InnoHub is an economic interest group (G.I.E.) created by three partners: MindForest, Inès Media and Exxus (The Factory Group). We identify promising startups abroad, raise awareness of the advantages of the Luxembourg ecosystem, and help startups find the funding they need and support them from Luxembourg with their international go-to-market strategy. To do this, we help the startups define an innovation strategy, their marketing strategy, the digitalization strategy for their services, etc.
What is the genesis of the idea?
It was a bit of an accident. I have known Dieter Horn (Inès Media) for over twenty years. We were both working in the world of communications and we reconnected when we crossed paths at the Business Meets Research event hosted by Luxinnovation in 2014. We both realized that we each already had a foot in innovation. He already had contacts with startups, and my team had carried out our first European innovation projects for companies in Luxembourg. Dieter asked me if we could assist him in the supervision of startups he was bringing to Luxembourg.
The structuring of the process took place last year and the economic interest group was formally established earlier this year.
At first glance, it was an opportunistic approach to support one or two startups per year. Then the deal flow grew very quickly and we decided to structure the approach, to set up a real organization and processes, and to allocate resources. The structuring of the process took place last year and the economic interest group was formally established earlier this year.
How does InnoHub differentiate itself from other incubators, accelerators and programs already active in Luxembourg?
We are a private actor and maintain business relationships with our customers. As part of the consortium that we have initiated, we have signed collaboration agreements with our customers. This also sometimes leads to new business opportunities for our partners, so our partners have a lot to gain from InnoHub as well.
I think the platform concept—in particular, the diversity of the partners on the platform—is what also makes InnoHub stand out.
We are not a public service and don’t, therefore, benefit from a public-private partnership. We employ a very pragmatic business approach. It’s entrepreneurs talking to other entrepreneurs. They do not have much time and need to devote the time they have to developing their products and their business models. We take care of everything else so that the entrepreneurs mostly focus on what they know and do best.
I think the platform concept—in particular, the diversity of the partners on the platform—is what also makes InnoHub stand out. We’ve gathered some of the best in their specific industries. We now have a dozen partners. What is very important for us is to select the partners according to the needs of multiple startups. We put into practice a bottom-up rather than top-down approach. If we detect the same need for several startups, we start looking for partners. The network is likely to evolve. The same goes with regard to the quality of services provided by our partners. It is the customers who judge the quality of their services. This is a real added value.
How do you concretely support the startups?
We already support more than 20 startups! Our dedicated support meets the individual needs of each client.
The startups are identified by a network of partners that we have established across the world, in cities such as Berlin, Munich, Paris, Reims, Palo Alto, Singapore, etc. And we continue to expand. Our partners unearth for us startup gems and send us interesting cases. Following this verification step by our partners, if we believe the project deserves to integrate into InnoHub, we propose a “discovery day” in Luxembourg. During this day we introduce them to all of the players in Luxembourg who would be able to assist them with their needs. Luxinnovation, LIST and/or SnT also help us verify the potential of their project.
We select a judicious mix between the different financing instruments, all based on the objectives of the startup and the entrepreneurs.
Then, when the startup decides to come to Luxembourg, our real work begins. There are three phases.
The first phase involves a thorough analysis of the business model and market for the startup’s services/products, which we do using software. We have established a partnership with the French company Vianeo, which has developed the software-based ISMA360® methodology. This gives us a good picture of future market performance. We also look at the financials and funding needs of the startup and establish a financing plan with our partner Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. Sometimes we even define the exit strategy. We are talking about prospects for 3 or 5 years.
The second phase is the fundraising stage, which is achieved either through private investors or through various financial structures, or via Luxembourg and European aid. We select a judicious mix between the different financing instruments, all based on the objectives of the startup and the entrepreneurs.
The third phase entails strategic support, which is different from mentoring or coaching. We offer a startup the ability to concentrate on its core business, define its marketing strategy and its strategy for access to new markets. We rely on our network of preferred partners that help us to create market entry opportunities. We give the startups comprehensive support, which is designed to last at least five years.
Who are your partners?
We work with a dozen expert partners. We also rely on the international network of Tribe Global communications agencies.
What are InnoHub’s ambitions?
Our goal for 2016 was to work on a dozen startup applications and sign contracts with at least three or four. Today, we already have over 20 startups signed and nearly 10 more in the pipeline. So we have already exceeded our 2016 target.
We are now looking at how to equip and organize our team to ensure that we can repeatedly handle fifty startups every year. To do this, we are particularly relying on the ISIM program and LIST, which help us analyze how we can optimize the resources we invest in these startups and how we can optimize our own organization. We will ramp up staffing as we grow.
We are already thinking about the establishment of a new service that would offer our know-how, our expertise, our network, and our processes to those wishing to start an incubator.
As for deal flow, our ambition here is to establish a more rigorous selection process in order to find the best possible startup projects. We also want to expand the network of partners that help us in the selection and pre-qualification of candidates.
On the investor side, we have made the first deals and continue to expand the network. We are looking for ways to make the network more lively and interactive, such as sharing a catalog that would include all the selected startups. We are already implementing this scheme with a group of family offices in Germany called the Foster Institute.
Finally, we are already thinking about the establishment of a new service that would offer our know-how, our expertise, our network, and our processes to those wishing to start an incubator.
What are the key figures?
Right now we are working with two dozen startups. We have helped the startups secure nearly EUR 10 million in funding, launch six innovative projects, create 30 jobs and file 34 patents in Luxembourg. We are helping these startups to innovate in Luxembourg. We wish above all that our activities and those of the startups have a positive economic impact on the country.
We also have clients based in Luxembourg who see the relevance of InnoHub (despite the fact that they are already integrated into the local economy), and who are providing us with specific fundraising management mandates or asking us to manage the set up of innovative projects.
Currently there are a good half dozen people working regularly on the InnoHub project. We will ramp up that level soon, while still maintaining our lean, agile and efficient structure.
What do you think of the current ecosystem of startups in Luxembourg?
I think the ecosystem and the framework that was set up by the government is really great. It is a jewel that is still poorly marketed abroad. The startups we approach are often very surprised when we tell them about Startup Nation Luxembourg. They often don’t have Luxembourg on their radar.
I think all the players are very professional and the startups in the ICT, FinTech, and biomedicine sectors are very dynamic.
Our business relies on the quality and track record of the Luxembourg startup ecosystem when we market abroad, looking for the rare startup gems!
InnoHub’s quick growth has shown us that the ecosystem in place is very good and deserves to be better known on an international basis.
