TalentHub: A Bridge Between Companies And Students


Officially launched this summer during a press conference held jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Lycée des Arts et Métiers (LAM), TalentHub aims to become the meeting spot between EdTech startups and entrepreneurial students. We discussed its mission and focus with Benoît Fortemps, coordinator of the TalentHub and Christian Boudot, teacher at the LAM and co-founder of the TalentHub.
by: Marion Finzi
photo: LAM
What is the mission of TalentHub?

BF—The TalentHub has been created by the LAM in partnership with the Technoport and full support of both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Economy.

The LAM possesses the pedagogic expertise required for this project but we needed to link our competences with business skills in order to make this project a success. Hence, our decision to partner with Technoport, a well-established expert in accompanying startups in the Luxembourgish ecosystem for over 20 years now.

The Ministry of Education, through the SCRIPT, shall also bring its pedagogic expertise.

Our main mission is to create a favorable bridge that connects the education world with the business world. We need to establish a continuous link between our educational programs and business ecosystem. Through the TalentHub, our students will have the chance to exchange knowledge with startups and a more global level with the professional world that awaits them at the end of their studies.

“We must prove to our students that launching a business can become a reality and not just a dream.”

This project has grown over 18 months by its two co-founders, Christian Boudot (coordinator of the BTS Game Programming and Game Design) and Fabrice Roth (director of the LAM).

CB—After a trip to Paris with a partner university, we realized that they were actively involved in the post-studies projects of their students by giving them the necessary tools to help build their own startups at the end of their courses. After internal discussions, we realized that we could go beyond this idea and implement such support earlier in the student’s cycle.

BF—We must prove to our students that launching a business can become a reality and not just a dream. We, therefore, needed to create a strong link between startups and students, way before their entries into the professional world.

Why have you chosen to focus only on EdTech startups?

BF—Education is our world. We want to accompany startups that we can really help. In addition, the Luxembourgish ecosystem is not yet fully developed for EdTechs so we saw a tangible opportunity for change.

Can you explain how the involvement of startups works in your pedagogy?

BF—We have already selected 3 startups and intend to welcome between 10 and 15 startups during the next year.

Those startups have their offices in the LAM and will offer the possibility for students to test these products. For instance, the startup CheckMath, active in the mathematics learning, shall test its product with students from our BTS Gaming program and students from the lower classes. This is a real chance for the startup to receive useful feedback from students, who could be its power users!

“Our intention, in tandem with the pedagogic programs developed by TalentHub, is to create an ecosystem.”

We will also organize a hackathon in partnership with the startups and “Innovation Days” on finance, gaming, IoT, Smart City/Building. Here professionals will be invited to come and participate in creative thinking exercises with our students and come up with ideas for “virtual businesses.”

What is your view on the progress made by the Ministry of Education in educational programs on entrepreneurship, gaming, coding and other technologies?

BF—There is a real desire from the government to support projects like our own. This is in line with their vision to implement new education programs focused on preparing the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

That being said, there is still a lot to do! Developments are happening at the university level but there is a need to act earlier, i.e. high school.

Our intention, in tandem with the pedagogic programs developed by TalentHub, is to create an ecosystem. We are working passionately towards achieving this goal.


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