esi: Who are you, what do you do and what makes you an expert on your start-upcountry?
Hélène: Europe4StartUps (E4S) is a Non-Profit Organization which helps promising eBusiness and multimedia companies to start up or boost their ventures in Europe by providing them twelve months of premium cloud storage and additional other business services for free. E4S was launched in July 2012 with nine key players in their respective industries. All of these companies (called the Services Providers) have joined their forces and put together a complete and high value service package called the E4S program. It’s a Program of Excellence, we are supported by big players like EY or Data4, and each year only twelve companies are selected to join the E4S program and can benefit from this unique opportunity. E4S is a real One Stop Shop for companies willing to enter the European market. Based on a win-win partnership, the Services Providers work together with the selected company on its development in Europe. Beyond the first year free of charge, the Services Providers hope that the selected companies succeed in Europe and that they will further continue their business relationship together. To summarize, E4S is in the service of Luxembourg’s IT Ecosystem development with reactivity, dynamism, commitment, humanity and fairness.
esi: What is cool about your start-upcountry, what inspires you and keeps you thriving?
Hélène: Luxembourg is such a multicultural and dynamic country that it appeals a lot of skilled people who want to develop their start-up projects. Besides, the country benefits from a one-of-a-kind business-friendly environment. The Government is very committed to start-ups development, and for a small country, we can boast a strong start-ups community. Luxembourg owns all the advantages to become a major IT Hub, and some success stories have contributed to develop Luxembourg’s recognition among the ICT world – Skype, Flashiz, etc. E4S was created in this context. I.e. contribute to Luxembourg’s digital Ecosystem reinforcement, and other initiatives, like the Technoport, with whom we work, are also here to keep the momentum.
esi: What makes you shake your head about your start-upcountry, what needs to be improved?
Hélène: In my opinion, Luxembourg suffers from a lack of visibility. The country needs to be proactive to promote itself on the very competitive start-ups hotspots scene. The Authorities have to keep on developing clusters of excellence, like the IT cluster, to become more renowned. One of the main challenges is also to train high-skilled students able to work in promising start-ups. Locally, Luxembourg doesn’t own resources enough to fit with the demand in terms of skilled workforce. For the moment the country has to appeal a lot of skilled foreign people to satisfy the needs of its fast growing IT Ecosystem, but things are moving!
esi: What’s some cool fact we are likely not to know about your start-upcountry?
Hélène: More than 80% of the people working in Luxembourg are foreigners, so Luxembourg is a concentrate of multiculturalism. This makes people open-minded and it creates a synergy conductive for doing business. With a more pragmatic approach, Luxembourg is a prominent international place where people speak fluently four or five languages.
esi: Thank you for the interview.
About the interviewpartner:
Hélène Michel is an ambitious young woman, promoting the European start-up scene as President ofEurope4StartUps. She worked several years in the USA, helping US companies to develop their business in Europe until she relocated to Luxembourg.
