When Cesar Fernandez moved from Honduras to Luxembourg to pursue a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, he expected the challenge to come from the classroom. Instead, it came long before the lectures began. Visa procedures, administrative paperwork and scattered information turned what should have been an exciting move into a frustrating experience. Rather than accepting the process, he decided to improve it.
Together with his brother Henry, Fernandez founded MoveMe, a platform that helps companies, universities and relocation agencies support international employees and students. Three years later, the startup operates in Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States, has facilitated more than 3,200 international relocations and is preparing to expand into Spain, Portugal and South Africa.
Building the company he wished he had
Entrepreneurship was never an accident for Fernandez. After graduating as an industrial engineer in Honduras, he launched an avocado distribution business with a colleague. What started with a few baskets eventually grew into a supplier for one of the country’s largest supermarket chains. Although he left the business when he moved to Luxembourg, the experience confirmed an ambition he had held for years.
“I always thought that I would eventually open my own company. I just never knew what it would be or how I would do it.”
Five years ago, Fernandez moved to Luxembourg to pursue a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Luxembourg. During the programme, lecturers and coaches challenged students to identify problems from their own lives that could become businesses. One question, in particular, stayed with him.
“One of the questions our lecturers and coaches kept asking was: ‘What problem have you experienced over the past six months or year that you wish could have been easier?’ For us, the answer was relocation.”
Turning frustration into a startup
Coming from outside the European Union, Fernandez had first-hand experience of the challenge. Immigration rules, sponsorship requirements and government procedures often proved difficult to navigate, while relocation agencies typically charged between €3,000 and €5,000. Rather than accepting the complexity of the process, he and his brother started asking themselves how technology could make it easier.
“We thought there should be something digital that could explain all of this to people who don’t have the budget to pay a relocation agency.”
MoveMe would have helped me, 100%.
That idea became MoveMe. Users begin by answering a questionnaire about their nationality, destination country and personal circumstances. Based on those answers, the platform provides tailored guidance on the administrative steps involved, helps manage documents through FileMe and uses an AI-powered chatbot to answer questions, bringing the entire relocation journey together in one place. “MoveMe would have helped me, 100%.”
Finding the right business model
As conversations with customers progressed, the founders realised the platform’s value extended beyond the people relocating. Companies, universities and relocation agencies also struggled to manage international arrivals, answer repetitive questions and keep track of administrative procedures. Rather than selling directly to individuals, MoveMe pivoted to a business-to-business model, allowing organisations to offer the platform to employees and students while giving HR teams a dashboard to monitor each relocation. In newer markets, the company also partners with local relocation agencies, which maintain country-specific expertise while licensing MoveMe’s technology to their own clients. “The person moving isn’t the one paying. The company pays.”
Our objective was to see whether we could sell it because something can be a very good idea even if nobody buys it.
For Fernandez, the startup stopped being a university project when it generated enough revenue for the founders to pay themselves. That milestone confirmed that the idea had become a viable business. “When we saw that we could pay ourselves salaries, we realised there was something worth pursuing.”
From the beginning, commercial validation mattered more than the concept itself. “Our objective was to see whether we could sell it because something can be a very good idea even if nobody buys it.”
Today, MoveMe has supported more than 3,200 international relocations. “More than 3,200 people have used our platform to move to a new country. For us, that’s an excellent figure.”
Growing together
MoveMe remains a family business. Like Cesar, Henry studied engineering in Honduras before moving to Luxembourg, where both brothers completed the same master’s degree. Building a company together has become one of the questions they hear most often. “Everyone asks us what it’s like to work with my brother. Honestly, it’s fantastic.”
The brothers nevertheless established clear rules from the outset, agreeing to discuss business as professionally as they would with an investor. “When we’re talking about MoveMe, we have to speak to each other as if we were speaking to an investor. Otherwise emotions can escalate.”
It changed from my brother and me trying to build something into a responsibility towards employees and investors who trust us.
Looking beyond expansion
As the startup has expanded, Fernandez says the biggest change has not been entering new markets but the responsibility that comes with growth. What started as a project between two brothers now involves employees and investors who have placed their trust in the business. “It changed from my brother and me trying to build something into a responsibility towards employees and investors who trust us.”
Looking ahead, his ambition extends beyond international expansion. He hopes MoveMe can eventually become freely available to people who receive opportunities abroad, such as scholarships, but cannot afford traditional relocation services.
“Our long-term goal is to make MoveMe completely free for people who receive opportunities such as scholarships abroad but cannot afford a relocation agent.”
