Too big, too competitive, too far away… No! The US market has never been so close to Luxembourg start-ups. Two acceleration programmes designed by American and European partners, with the support of the ministry of the Economy and Luxinnovation, are planned to accelerate the US development of Luxembourg start-ups.
One will take place on the west coast and the other on the east coast. Two different places, but also two different philosophies. Because the needs differ depending of the start-ups’ level of maturity and the sectors in which they are active.
Start-up school in San Francisco
The first one is the Startup School. Organised by Nex Cubed, an investor and accelerator organisation, it will take place in San Francisco from 20 to 25 of October. Five days of intensive coaching, visits, one-to-one investor meetings and networking events.
The Luxembourg start-ups will also have the possibility to pitch during the Nex Cubed Innovation Showcase event. Which are the lucky ones selected for this programme?
Anote – A marketplace for music royalties
SYD Cloud – Developer of a tool securing commercial transactions
Passbolt – An open source password manager for teams
Inkspired – A creative social story-telling platform
Benelux Catalyst in New York City
The second programme, Benelux Catalyst, will start on October 28 and will take place over 4 weeks in New York City. It aims to help start-ups from Benelux to kick-start their international growth by catering to their specific needs and giving them tools and resources to find success in the US.
Mindset and leadership, sales and marketing, fundraising and pitching, expansion fundamentals, and so on – the start-ups will go through all the key stages to succeed in their breakthrough in the American market.
This programme is a first-of-its-kind collaborative effort between partners from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It will be hosted at BelCham Atelier based in the middle of Manhattan. Participating start-ups include:
FlenHealth – A developer of pharma product for wound healing
Label R – A developer of an ESG certification method for alternative funds
Airboxlabs – A system for air quality monitoring and improvement