Trade Mission Allows Luxembourg Companies to Connect with US 'Innovation Powerhouses' in Texas, Silicon Valley

From Monday 6 to Saturday 11 October 2025, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, in close cooperation with the Luxembourg Trade & Investment Office (LTIO) San Francisco, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Ministry of the Economy, the Embassy of Luxembourg in Washington DC and Luxinnovation, led a trade mission to Texas and California in the United States.

The mission brought together 61 participants, including 41 representatives from 32 companies, alongside an institutional delegation.

The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce noted that Texas has increasingly become a key destination for tech giants relocating their headquarters and operations, attracted by its favourable business climate. The State is also experiencing strong tailwinds in the defence and aerospace sectors: eighteen of the 20 largest US aerospace manufacturers have established major operations there. The Lone Star State is also the top recipient of defence spending in the country ($71.6 billion). Overall, Texas is widely recognised as the second manufacturing powerhouse in the US, accounting for 10% of the country’s total manufacturing GDP.

As for California, the Chamber of Commerce recalled that Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s leading tech and IT companies, which are increasingly exploring links between artificial intelligence (AI) and national security, thereby strengthening their ties with the defence industry. The State ranks third nationwide in defence spending with $60.8 billion (as of 2023) and is the largest manufacturing state.

The business delegation featured leading Luxembourg companies and startups in the domains of defence and space, as well as other major industrial players. The Chamber of Commerce said the "strong presence" of startups was the result of a collaboration with the Luxembourg City Incubator and the University of Luxembourg’s Accelerator. The latter also conducted their US immersion trip at the same time.

The programme in Austin began with a meeting at the Center of Gravity for Entrepreneurs in Texas: Capital Factory. The delegation had the opportunity to interact with the co-founder of Capital Factory and representatives of leading defence institutions. In the afternoon, a meeting with Opportunity Austin reportedly allowed Luxembourg companies to understand business opportunities in the region and the "impressive" economic development Austin witnessed over the last decade. Defence and space companies also engaged with the Executive Director of the National Security Innovation Council and had the opportunity to present their innovative solutions.

On Wednesday 8 October 2025, the delegation visited Oracle’s global headquarters, where they explored the company's advancing secure cloud and data solutions with direct applications for defence and space. A productive meeting with the Acting Director for the Austin Greater area at Plug & Play Cedar Park reportedly allowed the delegation to gain insights into the close-knit ecosystem linking the startup community and major defence contractors.

The trade mission continued on the West coast in San Francisco where the programme revolved around breakthrough technologies. The visit of Salesforce headquarters focused on presenting latest AI trends and applications. The delegation also headed to Microsoft Silicon Valley campus where the meetings centered on innovative space and sustainability solutions.

Moreover, a defence roundtable was held at Stanford in collaboration with RedwireSpace that featured representatives of key US institutions in the field of space and defence. Meanwhile, startups received practical advice on how to expand their US footprint through a meeting with Start2Group. The day concluded with an official networking reception that notably included local representatives of major institutions as well as investors from the network of the LTIO San Francisco.

The mission is set to end with an "intense day of meetings" at the headquarters of Plug & Play, Planet Labs, Astranis and Berkley SkyDeck. The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, the Luxembourg City incubator and Plug & Play will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise future collaborations with this US incubator.

Highlighting the significance of the trade mission, Carlo Thelen, CEO / Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, said: "This programme reflects Luxembourg's strategic priorities. Space and defence are playing an increasingly important role in Luxembourg’s national agenda, reinforced by concrete initiatives, the most recent being the creation of Luxdefence, a newly established entity designed to structure and represent a rapidly developing industrial ecosystem. At the same time, Luxembourg continues to nurture a vibrant startup ecosystem supported by a robust network of incubators and accelerator programmes."

Looking ahead, the Chamber of Commerce said further activities to the US are already being prepared for 2026.