Organised at Kinepolis Kirchberg, the Fit 4 Start Selection & Graduation Day showcased a number of new products and discoveries. Featuring about sixty pitches, the event put the spotlight on entrepreneurs with innovative and promising projects and a strong motivation to convince the jury and the audience of 300 people of the usefulness of their ideas.
Managed by Luxinnovation with the support of the Ministry of the Economy and in collaboration with Technoport and the Luxembourg City Incubator, the Fit 4 Start programme is clearly a success. “We are delighted with the development of Fit 4 Start which, since its launch, has grown and is attracting increasingly promising companies. Real synergies have been created between the programme and the Luxembourg ecosystem that allows participating start-ups to test their solutions in Luxembourg and benefit from an excellent platform to develop and grow in Europe,” says Michele Gallo, ICT Coordinator at the Ministry of the Economy.
This edition received a total of 226 applications from 38 different countries, thus proving that Luxembourg is attractive for entrepreneurs from far beyond its borders. “The success of the programme is based on four key factors: an optimal environment, a highly qualified jury, a very responsive ecosystem and the confirmed support of the Ministry of the Economy,” says Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation. “The growing number and quality of start-ups are good indicators of the attractiveness and dynamism of our country’s economy.”
Based on the feedback from previous editions, Fit 4 Start is continuously being adapted to better meet the specific needs of start-ups. Previously targeting only ICT projects, this edition also offered 15 start-ups active in health technologies the opportunity to pitch. “The new health technologies pilot reflects the dynamism of the sector’s players and the growing impact of ICT in the health sector, in particular in the field of digital health,” explains Françoise Liners, head of the health technology department at the Ministry of the Economy. “The integration of ICT tools leads to the development of mobile and connected health solutions that meet medical needs in an increasingly personalised and patient-centred way.”
15 elected from 226 candidates
In the end, 15 start-ups (10 from the ICT sector and 5 from the health technology sector) were selected by the jury members to participate in the 7th Fit 4 Start edition. The selected start-ups are (in alphabetical order):
ICT:
- BondWeaver
- Credovita
- Eiravato
- Goldbaum
- Loro
- Morfin
- OKO
- Pycno Agriculture
- Spoticle
- StarTalers
HealthTech:
- Arspectra
- ImmunifyMe
- LuxAI
- Molecular Plasma Group
- SOVI Solutions
These companies will join the 16-week coaching programme starting on 6 November 2018. They will receive €50,000 of pre-seed funding offered by the Ministry of Economy.
This Selection & Graduation Day was also an opportunity to reward start-ups that successfully completed the 6th Fit 4 Start edition after four months of intensive coaching.
As specified in the competition rules, the start-ups that graduate successfully are eligible for an additional grant of €100,000, provided they are able to raise private capital of at least €50,000.
The 7 graduates of the 6th Fit 4 Start edition are:
- Salonkee: innovative software dedicated to improving the competitiveness of hairdressers, masseurs and beauty salons.
- MyMedBot: virtual personal assistant that sets up a preventive emergency plan for people with a chronic life-threatening illness so they can live without fear.
- Metri: a service that allows companies to save money and increase conversions by displaying ads based on collected data.
- IntegerAI: computer automation for learning user behaviour through observation, saving time and allowing users to focus more on what they like to do.
- Univize: an online platform that connects future students with experienced students to help them find the right university.
- Inkspired: digital platform for writers and readers for reading, writing and publishing books and creative stories.
- Machinations: Cloud solution to help game developers design digital game systems.
