The Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat, Luxembourg (BCEE) and Technoport SA today announced the signing of a partnership agreement with the aim of supporting entrepreneurship.
The 'Silver' partnership was established as a means of supporting Technoport activities organised throughout the year which aid individuals or teams attempting to implement a business idea or product. These activities, entitled 'hackathons', are based on a limited timeframe varying from 24 to 54 hours non-stop, on weekends, and seek to promote creativity, to connect skills, to validate ideas and the creation of applications, all the while remaining a collaborative process.
Concrete examples of hackathons have been Startupweekends, Barbecue Game Jam, Global Game Jam, Apps Foundry Contest and #play14, which Technoport hosts and co-organises with a series of local and regional partners.
Romain Wehles, Deputy Director and Head of the Business and Banking Department of the Public Sector of BCEE, stated that the partnership agreement expects to contribute to business innovation in the Grand Duchy.
Wehles commented: "As an actor firmly rooted in the national economy, BCEE shares the long-term vision with its customers. This partnership, which we are very proud to have reached with Technoport, is also in line with a strategy of support and encouragement for entrepreneurship continued by BCEE for many years now and can be illustrated, amongst others, by its longstanding partnership with Nyuko asbl, organiser of the 1,2,3, GO competition".
The importance of the collaboration was further emphasised by Diego De Biasio, Director of Technoport, who continued: "We are delighted that BCEE has decided to support us through a partnership. It should be noted that for more than two years already it has supported our Startupweekends. Now we can extend this collaboration to other events which, since mid 2012, have contributed to developing an important dynamic in the Luxembourgish entrepreneurial environment and in some cases even to the creation of new companies.
He concluded: "I am convinced that this is an important first step towards a more structured cooperation with certain departments at the Bank, which has already shown repeatedly in the past that it is ready to support national innovation by working with some of our accommodated startups".
Photo by BCEE/Technoport (L-R: Diego De Biasio, Technoport ; Romain Wehles, BCEE)
