Credit: Chronicle.lu

The Luxembourg Venture Days 2024 has been taking place at LuxExpo The Box in Luxembourg-Kirchberg; started in 2023, this two-day event is spread over various conference rooms with a central networking foyer.

Organised by Luxinnovation and the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LPEA), with the support and participation of various players within the innovation ecosystem, the event is aimed at investors, startups and scaleups; it also focuses on several national and international flagship initiatives participating together in a single event.

On the second day of the 2024 event, Chronicle.lu attended the gener8tor Luxembourg 2024 Showcase, labelled "a special event celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship in Luxembourg".

This event featured pitches from the four startups from gener8tor's second accelerator programme cohort, as well as information about gener8tor's initiatives and impact in Luxembourg. The startups, selected for their potential to drive systemic change and embrace sustainability, presented their cutting-edge solutions to an audience of investors from the US and Europe, along with key figures from Luxembourg's dynamic startup ecosystem.

Introduced by Menachem Tabanpour, Managing Director at gener8tor Luxembourg, and Shelby Peranich, Program Manager at gener8tor, they presented a brief summary of the make-up of the packed conference room. Menachem Tabanpour then made a brief presentation, asking What if.... Luxembourg missed out...? and What if there was a way to support local entrepreneurs. He recalled that gener8tor started off in 2012 at the University of Wisconsin in the US, after they discovered that 80% of Venture Capital went to startsup in California, that traditional VC approaches overlooked founders who did not fit the traditional profile, and that startups suffered from early-stage capital. gener8tor therefore connects startups, entrepreneurs, artists, investors, universities and corporations. To date, gener8tor has supported 1,500+ startups world-wide - mainly in the US but also in Luxembourg, Italy and Lebanon. He also explained that Mike Ansay, Luxembourg's Honorary Consul in Wisconsin, led the way for gener8tor to expand into Luxembourg a couple of years ago, with an initial $1 million invested; he added that this year there were around 200 applications initially (including 452 from Luxembourg) from which they would end up selecting four for their Investment Accelerator Programme.

The four pitches included:

- Jean-Yves Marié, CEO at BIM-Y, explained that he has 15+ years experience in the construction industry. Their Building Information Platform supports the management of buildings and supports the recycling of building components which first need to be classified. He explained that their business model is both simple and scalable, with clients saving up to 20% of maintenance costs, and that they are looking for funding to scale up in their business of building lifecycle management.

- Mark Tehrani, Founder and CEO at Cybersec, a cybersecurity startup based in Hamburg, Germany, now located in Luxembourg. He explained that the company used cloud and cybersecurity data processing solutions to support ports, following the Maersk cyber attack which cost the company a lot of money. He said that many organisations cannot afford to bring cybersecurity solutions into their ecosystems, so their offering is affordable. He explained that they are currently looking for seed funding.

- Angelika Bocian-Jaworska, Founder & CEO at Äerd Lab, explained that the company is a construction tech company with a specific manufacturing model, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions at the manufacturing stage. She talked about 3D-printing bricks that do not need to be fired, etc. they have a young, but experienced, team, and are also entering their seed round which will be primarily used on R&D. She concluded by confirming that "Äerd" in Luxembourgish means "earth".

- Fonny Bunjamin, Founder at Vestis Labs Sarl, explained that her company is active in the fashion industry, including home textiles. She explained that she worked for the fashion industry for 15+ years. She presented one of her clients as a case study, highlighting the challenges that they face. Vestis Labs offer an integrated digital solution which reduced up to 60% of samples by enabling these digitally. She also raised the challenge of regulation and legislation compliance, as well as increasing engagement, overall improving their efficiency. Their business model is based on a subscription model.

This hour-long pitching session, followed by another hour of networking, highlighted the culmination of the twelve-week gener8tor Luxembourg accelerator, designed to provide startups with seed capital, mentorship and the resources needed to scale. With a combination of in-person and virtual programming, the accelerator supports founders focused on transforming industries at the corporate, government and community levels.

Menachem Tabanpour concluded by stating that all four startups showcased have scalable business solutions.