The 20 startups selected in the 4 categories of Fit 4 Start will benefit from the specialised coaching as well as €50,000 of funding from the Ministry of the Economy each, with the possibility of receiving an additional €100,000 if they graduate successfully from the programme and manage to raise some private capital. On top of that, the 3 startups selected in the new track will benefit from a special programme, including access to computing and data analytics capacities of the national supercomputer MeluXina.
In line with previous editions, one third of the applications came from Luxembourg, the rest being equally divided between EU and non-EU startups.
This 12th call for applications also showed a clear trend for AI related solutions. 30% of the applications used this technology, followed by the internet of things (11%) and machine learning (11%).
“The new track attracted 20 applications, which means that there is a real interest for this kind of offer from startups. It links directly Fit 4 Start to MeluXina, which is a highly strategic initiative of the Government meant, among others, to build a competitive ecosystem for ambitious startups,” noted Stefan Berend, Head of Start-up Acceleration at Luxinnovation.
Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot added: “The Fit 4 Start acceleration programme is a powerful facilitator providing entrepreneurs with attractive pre-seed funding. In addition, the new HPC and data analytics track offers a unique opportunity to benefit from the real added value that we can offer in Luxembourg in terms of technology and expertise in the field of supercomputing and I hope that this will lead to the development of innovative solutions.”
The Fit 4 Start acceleration programme is a powerful facilitator providing entrepreneurs with attractive pre-seed funding.
The programme will kick off in early January. It will last 6 months, with coaching sessions taking place both physically and online depending on the sanitary situation.
Initiated in 2015 by the Ministry of the Economy, Fit 4 Start is managed by Luxinnovation in collaboration with Technoport, the Luxembourg City Incubator and the Luxembourg Space Agency.
Photo: © Luxinnovation/Marie De Decker
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