18 selected in September. 9 invited to pitch in December. Three finally selected. Circu Li-ion, Arspectra and Leko Labs were chosen for the first scale-up programme, announced in June at Vivatech by former Economy Minister and MP (LSAP) and Luxinnovation CEO .
“This programme, designed to support start-ups in their commercial, financial and team development, is part of our vision to create an interconnected journey from an innovative idea to unicorn status. By leveraging tools such as the Fit4Start programme, this new scale-up programme, as well as national and European funding instruments and other support initiatives, our ambition is for our ecosystem to reach a new stage of development,” commented (DP), Minister for the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism.
The three start-ups - the first specialising in the development of cleaner automotive batteries, the second in augmented reality glasses for the medical sector and the third in the automated construction of wooden houses - were selected by a Keystone Team made up of representatives of innovative entrepreneurs, businesses, investors and institutional facilitators.
“We are delighted to be able to include three exceptional deep tech companies that are poised to revolutionise the mobility, healthcare and construction sectors. The inclusion of scale-ups with hardware solutions brings a unique set of challenges, and we are committed to addressing these challenges collaboratively with these companies. Together, we aim to foster innovation, drive disruption and propel them to new heights within their respective industries, across Europe and around the world,” concluded Luxinnovation’s senior advisor start-up acceleration, Inna Perepelytsya.
The programme focuses on three areas in particular where scale-ups face challenges: sales (finding customers), fundraising and team development.
The three selected start-ups will receive tailored support to address the key challenges that have been identified individually for each of them, while helping them to identify “quick wins” and develop long-term growth plans.
In particular, by participating in the pilot programme, these companies can expect:
- mentoring on the specific challenges of scaling up;
- Improved visibility in the European ecosystem and in the media;
- specific training to improve their pitching and presentation skills;
- introductions to investors, large companies and/or potential partners.
What’s more, the Ministry of the Economy predicts that by taking part in this pilot programme, these three start-ups will become benchmarks within the ecosystem.
Originally published in French by and translated and edited for Delano