Virginie Simon, the Co-Founder and CEO of Luxembourg start-up MyScienceWork, has been featured amongst start-up magazine The Hundert's 100 successful female founders from 40 European countries.
Ms. Simon has been recognised for her commitment to the collaborative scientific platform MyScienceWork by the magazine, which aims to inspire women to build their own companies by relaying female founders' success stories.
"This European recognition is really important for the company and the team," Virginie Simon commented in an interview with the Hundert. "It comes only one month after the Challenges 2016 ranking, presenting MyScienceWork as one of the 30 top start-ups in which to invest."
An Engineering and Philosophy graduate with a Research Master in Genetics, Virginie Simon created MyScienceWork along with Tristan Davaille at the age of 28.
"The creation of MyScienceWork is the result of some observations I made during my doctoral work," Virginie explained. "People needed a way to gather on a single platform, to collaborate, share and communicate. The general public is also increasingly seeking scientific information and is eager to learn. Anyone can develop an ability to understand science, its concepts and even become an expert. Science has become more and more open and transparent."
She attributed the choice of Luxembourg as the start-up's headquarters and R&D base to the country's central location in Europe and its "extraordinary capacity for scientific evolutions", pointing to the University of Luxembourg's second-place ranking for international exchanges despite its novelty. She also highlighted the Grand Duchy as a key location for entrepreneurship due to its strong financial platform.
"It’s important for Luxembourg to become the hub for great international success stories. If there are concrete models and successes, then people will use this energy to grow stronger, to become more enthusiastic to start their own project," she commented. "In Silicon Valley, only three European countries are well known and attractive to startups, and Luxembourg is amongst them, thanks to the numerous aids, work flexibility and openness. I am confident it will grow even stronger in the future."
She expressed her belief that there should be more female business leaders, stating "women can bring a lot [...] women are strong, have their feet on the ground, have stronger convictions and focus on the long-term."
Looking forward, Virginie Simon said that she hopes to position MyScienceWork as a European leader, explaining: "We are currently working on a number of H2020 projects with the aim to buld bridges between Europe and the US."
Photo by the Hundert
