Start-ups from all over the world active in the digital, health tech and space fields are invited to submit applications to Luxembourg’s renowned accelerator programme Fit 4 Start. 6 months of tailor-made coaching, free access to incubator co-working space, excellent opportunities to meet investors and partners and up to €150,000 of equity-free funding are on offer. Deadline: 14 August 2023.
The call for applications to the 14th edition of Fit 4 Start was opened at the graduation event of the latest cohort held in Luxembourg on 29 June. “All start-ups face three main challenges: ensuring their product/market fit, developing their team and finding funding,” said Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot when announcing the launch of the call. “Fit 4 Start has been tailored to cover all three of these issues and help the start-ups move forward and mature in each field.”
Coaching and funding
During the six-month programme, participants continuously have face-to-face sessions with coaches who monitor and support their progress. They also have regular sessions with the Fit 4 Start jury, made up of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and experts. “They constantly challenge the participants to make sure that their offer is perfectly targeted to the needs of the market,” says Sven Baltes, Senior Advisor – Start-up Acceleration at Luxinnovation who is in charge of the overall management of the programme. “Participants have also many times testified to how much they have grown and matured as a team during the programme and developed skills that enhance their ability of successfully leading a growing company.”
The seed funding provided by the programme is also a welcome financial injection to these young companies. “During the 13 Fit 4 Start editions organised so far, we have provided €11.5 million in seed funding to almost 150 participants,” Minister Fayot pointed out. “This has also enabled them to raise over €50 million of private funds from more than 70 investors, and to hire over 300 full-time equivalents.”
Call open until 14 August 2023
Fit 4 Start #14 offers 20 places to start-ups that fulfil the following criteria:
- Active in the fields of digital, health tech or space
- Are less than 5 years old at the opening date of the call
- Have a team of at least two people
- Fulfil the EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises
“The jury will obviously select the start-ups that it estimates have the highest potential for business success,” says Mr Baltes. “However, the selection will also take into account the extent to which their business integrates dimensions related to one or several of the three main pillars of sustainability, namely people, planet and prosperity.”
A pre-selection process will take place after the closing of the call. Short-listed applicants will be invited to a pitching session in mid-October where the final participants will be selected. The coaching programme will begin in January 2024.
Below are the thoughts of two winners of the previous edition:
“The quality of the coaches and the fact that they challenged us and provided an external view on our business that helped us better shape our products to market needs is the most important takeaway from the programme for us.” Mekki Mouaddeb – Gonuggets
“It’s absolutely a great opportunity to be chosen as one of the winners, to be close to the very smart people from different industries and to learn different skills. The programme challenges you because when you create something new and you come into a programme like this, you quickly become aware of a lot of things that need to be done before you even take the product to the market.” Denisa Sustalova – WAVY MEET
Interested? Apply now to Fit 4 Start #14
