Fit for Start

Fit 4 Start is an acceleration programme dedicated to high potential start-ups operating in the fields of Information and communications technologies, Space technologies and Health technologies. The programme was initiated by the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and is managed by Luxinnovation. It offers its participants the following:[1]

  • COACHING: 16 weeks of experts coaching by lean start-up experts
  • FUNDING: Grants up to €150,000
  • OFFICE: Free access to co-working space
  • NETWORK: Valuable networking and financing opportunities in Luxembourg's dynamic start-up ecosystem
Fit 4 Start
Legal StatusPublic acceleration programme
Launched2015
Programme ManagerStefan Berend
Vertical ManagersLaurence Hulin (ICT)

Stéphanie Silvestri (HealthTech)

Valentin Rongoni (Space)
LanguagesFrench, German, English and Luxembourgish
URLhttp://www.fit4start.com/

History & Evolution

In 2015, a pilot edition of Fit 4 Start was launched. A total of 3 start-ups participated in that first edition; Houser, Sport50 and Bitbank. Initial partners to the programme were Technoport and Nyuko. After this successful first edition, the programme was expanded by taking in 5 participants as of the second edition. In 2018, Fit 4 Start opened its doors to 10 participants for the first time (Edition 6). One edition later, start-ups operating within HealthTech were included into the programme.[2] In 2019, for the 8th edition of Fit 4 Start, high potential start-ups active in SpaceTech are included.[3]

Partners

After restructuring their services, Nyuko was no longer an official partner to the programme from edition 7. Current official partners of Fit 4 Start are:

Participation Requirements

The following are the major requirements to apply to the Fit 4 Start programme:

  1. Being active in the field of ICT, HealthTech or SpaceTech (Note: Not all verticals are offered for each edition);
  2. Being innovative or different from the competitors;
  3. The project should be led by at least 2 people (no nationality constraint), from whom one of them being full-time;
  4. Company younger than 5 years. However, no incorporation is required at the application stage.

Selection Process

All applications received during the call for applications will be carefully reviewed by a selection committee composed of experts from the Luxembourg start-up ecosystem. The committee then selects the start-ups which are invited to pitch their venture during the Pitching & Graduation Day. During the Pitching Day, a jury composed of serial entrepreneurs, investors & connoisseurs of the Luxembourg start-up ecosystem assesses & questions the start-ups on stage and takes the final decision on who will ultimately participate in the Fit 4 Start programme.

Pitching & Graduation Day

Twice a year, a Pitching & Graduation Day is organised. In the early editions, the event was hosted by Technoport while it is currently held at Kinepolis due to the strong growth of the programme. The purpose of the event is the selection of those start-ups participating in the Fit 4 Start programme. In addition, those start-ups that graduated from the previous edition, will be revealed and obtain their graduate diploma during the graduation night. As a highlight, a keynote speaker is invited to share his experience and thoughts with both the start-up and the audience of the event.

During the programme

During the programme, the selected start-ups will attend both individual coaching sessions based on the lean start-up methodology as well as expert sessions on specific matters relevant to the whole cohort. The ultimate objective of the programme is to make its participants ready for customers and investors. The coaches support the start-ups in refining their value proposition, developing a strong business model and becoming customer-centric. Moreover, the coaches open their network to the start-ups and initiate valuable business opportunities. The participants are to present their progress and achievements in monthly steering committees to the jury members that initially selected the start-ups to the programme. The same jury takes the graduation decision at the end of the 4 months. The Fit 4 Start programme takes place at Luxinnovation, Technoport and the House of BioHealth.

Participants

The table below, gives an overview of all the Fit 4 Start participants:[4]

Edition 1 (Pilot 2015) Edition 2 (Spring 2016) Edition 3 (Autumn 2016) Edition 4 (Spring 2017) Edition 5 (Autumn 2017)
ICT: ICT: ICT: ICT: ICT:
Edition 6 (Spring 2018) Edition 7 (Autumn 2018) Edition 8 (Spring 2019) Edition 9 (Autumn 2019)
ICT: ICT:

HealthTech

 ICT: ICT:

HealthTech

SpaceTech


The next call for applications was scheduled to open in December 2019. A pre-registration to stay updated about coming deadlines is still available.

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References
  1. "Join Fit 4 Start and boost your start-up | ICT, HealthTech, Space". Fit 4 Start acceleration programme to potential start-ups. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  2. "ICT and health tech start-ups: Apply now for Fit 4 Start". Luxinnovation. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  3. "Fit 4 Start goes into space". Luxinnovation. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  4. "Hear from participants and experts". Luxinnovation. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
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