International Affairs
Following the success of its last editions, the Enterprise Europe Network of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Luxinnovation, the House of Startups and the Luxembourg Open Innovation Club organised the 4th edition of the accompanied visit to the Web Summit from 4th to 6th November 2019 in Lisbon, encompassing a well-rounded programme of business networking and added values services. Some 300 participants from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg were present at the Web Summit this year including over 130 national company representatives and some 80 companies from 12 different countries who participated in Luxembourg’s networking reception and in the programme offered by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and its partner organisations.
In a very short span of almost 10 years, the Web Summit has evolved into one of the largest tech events in Europe. This year, the so called “Davos for Geeks” has gathered, according to the organisers, some 70,000 participants, representing a wide range of companies from the “Fortune 500” list as well as renowned high-tech companies and potentially fast growing start-ups from all over the world.
Speaking about Luxembourg grand presence at the Web Summit, Sabrina Sagramola, Head of European Affairs & Greater Region quoted “We have been visiting the Web Summit for 4 years with an exponential increase in participants every year. The reason is simple: the importance of the ICT & innovation for Luxembourg. With innovation being at its core, Luxembourg scored the 5th place in the European Innovation Scoreboard in 2019 and has also been ranked the 19th top economy in the world by the World Economic Forum. Furthermore, this year we adopted a holistic approach in terms of bringing together the key stakeholders as well as the support services we offered to our companies.”
Given the importance of the Web Summit and the place of the ICT sector for Luxembourg, the Chamber of Commerce focused on added value services for companies this year to prepare them for their participation. A preparation meeting was held to provide participants with information on the programme, opportunities for companies and services offered coupled with advice to effectively benefit from the different facets of the events offered in the framework of the visit. The meeting was followed by a "Pitch Academy" session aimed at training companies on how to pitch and conduct an effective conversation, keeping in mind the time constraints at a fair.
For Eric Hoffenlick, Director at Vedi, a company active in the field of digital marketing solutions, “the event was packed with high level and qualitive speakers satisfied my quest to study the latest market trends as well as find innovative technology solutions to increase our product portfolio. Furthermore, we were also interested in understanding the investment process and funding for one of our start-up ventures. The exhaustive programme & support services offered by the organisers helped me to stay focused on my objective to take advantage of the networking opportunities & doing business, especially during the evening reception organised. I have come back with variety of projects and an extensive list of contacts that I hope to convert to concrete results.”
This year a series of side events were organised to reinforce Luxembourg’s presence at the Web Summit and to showcase the open and dynamic economy of the country. The event organised by Luxinnovation at Vodafone attracted foreign start-ups in the internationalisation phase interested in Luxembourg’s ecosystem. Additionally, the event brought together investors and large companies from Luxembourg in search of new investments and partnerships with start-ups. To attract start-ups from various backgrounds, Luxinnovation collaborated with Startup Portugal, actors from Quebec and the French Region of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes. The event was followed by a special edition of Startup Stories, a pitching contest organised by Paperjam Club where 10 start-ups pitched their venture in front of a jury.
Addressing the big gathering at the Networking reception organised by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Mr Jean Jacques Welfring, Ambassador of Luxembourg to Portugal, emphasised “Innovation and open mindedness are in Luxembourg’s DNA which is also confirmed in OECD report for being the most open economy. Luxembourg is currently at the peak of digital transformation and is involved in several key European projects owing to its strategic location and state-of-the art infrastructure. Our growing participation at the Web Summit is a result of the strong commitment of our Chamber of Commerce in uniting key stakeholder and actors of the ICT community and which also reflects our potential as an IT nation”.
Given the size of the Summit and with the aim of helping participating companies to optimise their participation due the short duration, guided thematic tours were offered by Vanksen & Accenture in close collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce in the fields of Innovation, cyber-development, fintech and digital marketing & social media.
“The Web Summit was phenomenal showcasing a high quality of speakers. Interested in Block-chain solutions, I had the chance to meet some innovative start-ups and participate in some interesting conferences with great content and visionary speakers who shared the latest developments in the block chain field. I would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce, for the well organised delegation, both logistic and content wise, which helped use my time better during the event. I look forward to bigger Luxembourgish presence at the Web Summit next year” said, Christophe Chudy, Founder, MCD Team, a company active in the domains of finance, insurance, blockchain & cryptocurrencies.
With the growing importance of the Web Summit as an important global tech event, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce plans to continue its initiatives to the event in the next years with a reinforced & increased presence in order to continue to position Luxembourg as a leader in Digitalisation as well as Innovation.
