The LHoFT celebrates innovation and collaboration during its official opening event.

FinTech

Left to the right : Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the LHoFT; Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance; Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance and Carlo Thelen, General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce

On the eve of the 24th of April 2017, the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT) hosted an event to celebrate the official opening of its Innovation Hub and co-working facility at the House of Entrepreneurship in
Kirchberg –Luxembourg.

This landmark event gathered the partners and supporters of the LHoFT as well as other key members of the financial services, startup and government  community, highlighting the connectivity and accessibility of Luxembourg’s ecosystem, the foundation of the collaboration that is a focus of the LHoFT's strategy for driving Fintech forward within the Grand Duchy.

Senior representatives and CEO’s of the LHoFT’s current Leadership Circle partners (BGL BNP Paribas, Clearstream (Deutsche Börse Group), BCEE, Deloitte Digital, Foyer Group, KPMG, POST Luxembourg, Six Payment Services, PwC, Société Générale and Telindus (Proximus Group), mixed with the LHoFT’s Associate Partners, Fintech startups from Luxembourg and abroad like Kurtosys (winner of the LHoFT’s social media contest), Venture Capital Funds, Education and Government officials attended this event.

Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the LHoFT, gave a welcome speech, commenting: “Over the coming months we will be delivering a number of exciting projects with the community; education programs, hackathons, developer sandboxes as well as the Fintech Awards. We will work with the community to build up a soft-landing platform to make it as easy possible for Fintech firms to set up in Luxembourg and we will promote all of Luxembourg’s strengths internationally to put Luxembourg first in the considerations of Fintech firms looking for an EU hub.”

The guest of honour, H.E. Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance, the driving force of the LHoFT initiative, spoke to the audience, stating: “I am very pleased to see this project come to life. The LHoFT will play a key role for the development of Fintech in Luxembourg and the digital transition of our financial sector. The LHoFT will further reinforce Luxembourg's attractiveness, particularly for start-ups. I am convinced that it will create a new dynamic, actively contributing to the diversification of the Luxembourg economy.”

Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce speaking after the Minister of Finance, commented: “I am delighted to take part to the opening ceremony of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies – LHoFT Foundation. Today, it has become more than vital to foster the emergence of new startups in the Fintech sector for the future of our local financial center, as it will surely contribute to its diversification, its capacity for innovation and its technological evolution.”

Collectively the LHoFT and its partners aim to drive financial technology innovation within Luxembourg’s financial services community to ensure the future competitiveness of the industry, foster a comprehensive and collaborative globally connected Fintech ecosystem, and position Luxembourg as a leading Fintech centre within Europe with global recognition for cutting edge innovation developments that progress financial services forward.

The guests had the chance to discuss and exchange views on innovation in the presence of QT Robot from LuxAI, with a wine tasting from Casa De Vinos, the cartoonist Jack Zazzera who captured moments from the evening, and a live performance by Sumo, modern art leading figure and well-known graffiti artist.