On Monday evening, the Luxembourg House of Finance Technology (LHoFT) - pronounced "loft" - had its official opening; located at 14 rue Erasmus in Kirchberg in the House of Entrepreneurship, LHoFT is situated across the road from the Chambre de Commerce and beside Luxembourg for Finance and other such institutions.

The building previously had a virtual groundbreaking and then its CEO, Nasir Zubairi, was appointed. LHoFT occupies the first floor of the building which currently houses its staff of five, including Manon Loison (marketing), Emilie Allaert (operations & projects), Alex Pancican (partnerships & ecosystems) and Dilek Ayaydin (PA to the CEO), plus a number of rooms to support its various services, as follows:

- incubator (up to one year, with funding)

- co-working space (early-stage start-ups, with funding)

- working with partners on solutions, including events, white papers, partnerships and research papers.

The LHoFT is established as a Public-Private foundation (non-profit) on the initiative of Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) and the Ministry of Finance. It currently has six people on the board, representing the Ministry of Finance, Luxembourg for Finance, the Chambre de Commerce, Profil, BGL BNP Paribas and the Ministry of Economy.

It was originally housed within the LFF before it recently moved next door when its new offices were ready. It is now fully operational and is active in four main focus areas:

- InsurTech;

- RegTech;

- Financial Inclusion;

- FundTech

On Monday evening at the official opening, Nasir Zubairi addressed then invited audience and thanked all partners of LHoFT and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, plus associate and corporate partners, especially Luxembourg for Finance and, in particular, the leadership and guidance of Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance.

He acknowledged the enthusiasm for environment for encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the Grand Duchy, and descibed what he had come across as an "open attitude towards imnovation". He stated "I have worked in eight centres around the world and have never encountered such a desire to succeed as here in Luxembourg".

He stressed "collaboration is the way forward" and confirmed that over the coming months the Lhoft will be delivering a series of services and events, including masterclasses, hackatons, as well as other "out of the box" events such as a charity bike ride to Amsterdam and a football tournament.

Nasir Zubairi continued by stating convincingly "We will promote all of Luxembourg's strengths" when marketing abroad, and confirmed that next year the LHoFT will be moving to a state-of-the-art showcase facility elsewhere in Luxembourg. He also revealed that over 50 companies from as far as Asia have expressed an interest to be located within the LHoFT.

He concluded by stating "Luxembourg is the place for FinTech. This hub is a place for the community".

Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, congratulated Nasir Zubairi on the launch of the LHoFT and observed that here everyone has their feet on the ground and the ideology to convert ideas to reality through products and services.

Minister Gramegna referred to his recent visit to Canada and agreed with his Canadian counterpart that the two countries would collaborate on FinTech issues. He also mentioned his recent trip to Australia where FinTech is also a priority.

He thanked Nicolas Mackel of Luxembourg for Finance and Carlo Thelen from the Chambre de Commerce, and referred to the perfect collaboration between the public and private sectors, where a foundation has been created. "Here is a collaboration, not competition" he summarised and continued "For Luxembourg, innovation is a priority horizontally."

He revealed that the state had allocated a budget of close to €2m for the first year for the LHoFT. Minister Gramegna added "While nobody can really measure it, digitalisation will have a major impact; in bringing together the best actors, we can work miracles."

Carlo Thelen, Director at the Chambre de Commerce, stated that the Chambre de Commerce together with the Ministry of Finance, is looking for a sustainable location for the LHoFT and related entrepreneurship initiatives.

He highlighted the generation of synergies between the LHoFT and the chamber's one-stop-shop, to facilitate professional support and advice; to support the 4th industrial revolution strategy; and to expand vocational training by the digital training offer with a partnership with the House of Training.

Nasir Zubairi concluded the formal part of the evening by stating that the initiative is based on collaboration, cooperation and engagement.

Photo: Nasir Zubairi, CEO of LHoFT, at its official opening