The newly selected entrepreneurs and the business leaders who are supporting them were formally introduced during a ceremony on November 17, which was moderated by Jean-Michel Gaudron, editor-in-chief of Delano’s sister publication paperJam.

Speakers included Françoise Hetto-Gaasch, minister for equal opportunity and small- and medium-sized business, as well as mentees from the premier cycle.

Inspired and assisted by a similar project that is part of the Fondation de l'entrepreneurship in Quebec, once again ten Luxembourg small- and medium-sized business owners will be supported by mentors over the course of a year.

Mentors and mentees are originally from seven different countries, and are matched with a partner from a different economic sector, to avoid any potential conflict-of-interest.

However, two different participants told Delano (without revealing their programme partner) why they signed-up for the second cycle.

Mentor Laurent Schonckert, the Luxembourgish chief of retailer Cactus, was a mentor in the premier cycle and decided to join-up again. “I had never had a mentor… when I was younger,” he says. “So I thought it could be interesting for someone to have the point of view of an outside guy, who is not involved in the daily business of their company.”

Mentee Courtney Charlton, the British director of specialist recruitment firm Greenfield, founded in 2008, is looking after his own development: “What I thought was really valuable was having a completely impartial individual that’s mentoring you. They’ve got nothing to gain or to lose by telling you really how it is."

More in the December print edition.  Schonckert and Charlton will also share their experiences as the programme evolves throughout the year on Delano.lu.