Discover how Luxinnovation’s services can help you assess your innovation potential, connect with the right partners and identify the most suitable funding solutions to bring your ideas to life.
Jean-Michel Gaudron
Today, the real question for any company is no longer whether to innovate, but rather when and how to take action. In an environment of constant change, innovation is more than ever a crucial lever to enhance competitiveness, unlock new opportunities and, above all, ensure long-term sustainability. The Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness makes the same point.
"Innovation is not just about ideas or products," says Mario Grotz, CEO of Luxinnovation, Luxembourg’s national innovation agency. "It is a mindset, a collective process and a bold response to the many challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s world."
For over 40 years, Luxinnovation has been providing tailored support to Luxembourg-based companies and startups in their pursuit of excellence, helping them unlock their innovation potential to stay competitive and create sustainable value. The agency also plays a proactive role in identifying innovation opportunities, encouraging collaborative projects and contributing to national economic development as a whole.
Innovation is a mindset, a collective process. Mario Grotz, CEO of Luxinnovation
According to a recent European Commission publication, companies that invest in data-driven innovation and data analytics are seeing productivity gains of around 5% to 10% more than those that do not.
"As a catalyst for innovation in Luxembourg, our mission is to help transform ideas into concrete results by embedding innovation at every step of the way," Mr Grotz adds.
Luxinnovation is also tasked with attracting innovative international companies looking to develop their activities in Europe and potentially set up operations in Luxembourg. This is made possible thanks to the agency’s ability to engage a wide variety of stakeholders, offer hands-on support and foster meaningful connections within the ecosystem.
The agency’s services are built around four core pillars: inspiring companies to take innovation further, assessing their strengths and development areas, connecting them with relevant stakeholders for national or European projects, and guiding them toward suitable funding mechanisms to achieve their ambitions.
"Bringing together talent, innovative ideas and technologies lies at the heart of our mission. This is how we can collectively address real-world challenges, boost productivity, strengthen the economy and generate new job opportunities," concludes Mr Grotz.
Innovation cannot be improvised. You need to be able to identify the right trends, understand the dynamics of ecosystems, and find your way around a constantly changing technological and regulatory landscape. It is precisely in this demanding context that Luxinnovation intervenes, by helping companies to structure their innovation approach. As a source of inspiration, it gives them the necessary impetus to strengthen their innovation efforts.
The support offered by the national innovation agency goes far beyond simple technical support. It consists of a real immersion in a stimulating ecosystem. Through the regular organisation of national or international events or the publication of content on its platforms, Luxinnovation allows companies to open up to new ideas and to consider the implementation of processes or emerging technologies.
In addition, thanks to its Knowledge Hub, the agency offers structured access to in-depth monitoring of Luxembourg's innovation ecosystems, sectoral trends and major developments on an international scale. A useful tool to allow companies to position themselves in a relevant and proactive way in their markets.
To help decision-making in artificial intelligence, the latest mapping published by Luxinnovation lists more than 550 organisations ranked according to their role in the AI ecosystem.
Any innovation process is part of a structured approach, which often begins with an in-depth assessment of the existing situation: identifying strengths, identifying levers for progress and defining clear priorities. Luxinnovation offers companies support to make this strategic analysis and build a roadmap adapted to their reality.
The "Fit 4" performance programmes, managed by the agency, allow companies to benefit from an in-depth assessment of their situation in key areas (sustainability, digitalisation, energy efficiency, innovation) by referenced independent consultants. From there, a concrete action plan can be developed, offering a clear vision of the steps to be taken to gain competitiveness.
By assessing their innovation management capacity or their digital maturity and cybersecurity, companies can better understand their technological and organisational readiness, prioritise their investments in an informed manner and embark on the path to innovation with confidence.
The brand new Fit 4 AI programme allows SMEs to identify how artificial intelligence will help them harness the masses of information in their possession to create value. This allows them to explore the full potential of AI for their business and determine, with the support of experts, the right time and best approach to adopt it.
To connect companies, research centres and organisations to the right partners in Luxembourg and in Europe, Luxinnovation provides several levers: individual meetings highlighting the Luxembourg innovation ecosystem, networking platforms such as the L-DIH Marketplace (support for industrial companies in their digital transformation), or the European Enterprise Network (for the development of internationalisation and innovation projects), and help in connecting people to find national and European project partners. Not to mention the Startup Luxembourg initiative, which highlights the Luxembourg ecosystem and its players, and facilitates connections and business opportunities.
Bringing together investors, startups and scaleups, and several national and international flagship initiatives: this is the objective of the Luxembourg Venture Days 2025. On 22-23 October, this flagship event of the autumn will offer innovative startup pitches, networking opportunities and shared expertise through round tables, presentations and masterclasses.
A wide range of R&D and innovation funding initiatives and programmes are available to companies, research centres and other organisations. Luxinnovation helps them identify the most appropriate funding opportunities based on their current needs and long-term strategies: assessing eligibility for the proposed financing tools, information on how to prepare funding applications, and connection with project partners if necessary.
This article was published in the Paperjam Extra edition published on 22 May 2025.
