“We didn’t come to Luxembourg to do business, but to live here.” These words from Excellis co-founder Jean-Charles Castioni perfectly sum up the motivation that drove him and his partner Gaétan Sejalon to found their company in January 2023. Residents of Luxembourg because their wives are natives of the country, the entrepreneurs quickly identified a gap in the logistics of the healthcare sector.

“The Luxembourg market has its own specific characteristics. Hospitals, for example, have specific needs that major groups often ignore,” points out Castioni. And while there is a real demand in Luxembourg, it is still too small to attract the big players, who “tend to cater for the needs of major markets such as France and Germany.”

This lack of large distributors is compounded by a lack of quality after-sales services. “Finding a salesperson is easy, but maintenance, training and post-sales follow-up are often neglected,” says the former big pharma employee. Faced with these observations, the two entrepreneurs--who have a wealth of experience in the medical sector--have joined forces to create Excellis.

Quality before quantity

“Because their customers expect more than a simple delivery of equipment,” Castioni and Gaétan Sejalon opted for specialisation. By concentrating their offer on a limited number of rigorously selected brands, they have mastered their catalogues. This expertise enables them to respond precisely to the specific needs of their partners. From sales to training for the future buyer and equipment maintenance in the event of a problem, Excellis offers a complete sales service from A to Z.

And it works! For example, the Meiko brand, which specialises in washing, cleaning, disinfecting and treating receptacles in the catering and health sectors, is now distributed by Excellis in four of the country’s five hospital groups.

Excellis’ areas of expertise include hygiene, early childhood, bedroom furniture, patient mobility and medication circuit management. The company offers a wide range of medicine storage trolleys, state-of-the-art stretchers and other equipment essential to the smooth running of a hospital. Solutions that help to improve patient comfort and the working conditions of care staff.

The first bio-cleaning laboratory

It has also created the first laboratory in Luxembourg dedicated to cleaning and disinfecting medical equipment and devices using steam bio-cleaning. “This means that mattress cleaning times can be reduced from 60 to 90 days to just five to 10 days.” It’s a real time-saver.

Of course, setting up these services comes at a cost, not least in human terms. “The nights are short,” admits Castioni. But the hours and hours of work are starting to pay off. “We’re finally going to be able to invest in human resources.” Supported by the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (Bil), the company, which employs three people--the two co-founders and a technician--plans to double its workforce in the near future. “We are going to recruit a senior salesperson, an assistant and a second technician (the latter being the most important, as a large part of the company’s business is based on ‘technical service’).”

“We’re really concentrating on Luxembourg, because we have a perfect command of this area,” concludes Castioni.

This article was originally published in .