Finance, Talent And Events: Luxembourg Accelerates Startup/Scale-Up Support

Author - Jess Bauldry

Startup support in Luxembourg is like buses. You’ll find yourself waiting for years and then 10 arrive at once.

That was the case on Monday when the Luxembourg ministries of economy and finance announced a raft of 10 concrete actions spanning finance, talent and expansion to boost the country’s competitiveness.

12 years after Luxembourg shared ambitions to become a startup nation, the country is set to fill in the gaps for building and scaling innovative technological solutions.

Currently, the grand duchy counts around 650 startups and scale-ups, among them household names like Talkwalker, Salonkee and Doctena. But with 9 out of 10 startups failing globally each year, maintaining the ecosystem requires ongoing targeted support.

“It’s important to have success in these areas, because we need not only a Luxembourgish solution, but also a European solution,”

Economy minister Lex Delles said, adding:

“We see that innovation in our economy throughout Europe is very often going to the US or to the Asian market because of the question of venture capital, because of questions of talent attraction, and that’s why we need a European solution.”

The 10 points can be distilled as follows:

Startups

To encourage the creation of early-stage startups, the government wants to incentivise private investment. It will offer a tax credit for taxpayers investing in young innovative companies.
To offer further public financial support for deep tech spin-offs of up to €200,000, funding up to 80% of the project (the remaining 20% must be found through private sources). At the same time, the government will develop specialised incubators for strategic sectors such as automobility, healthtech and space.

Scale-ups

To help scale-ups access finance and expand internationally, the government along with Luxinnovation will, at the end of 2025, launch a dedicated support programme for fast-growing scale-ups. It will also develop entrepreneurs in residence at different embassies, helping them to connect with industry players in their target countries.
The government will assess opportunities, feasibility and the most relevant and innovative financial programmes to channel further investment to venture capital, including for fintechs.
To attract and retain talent, the government will revise the tax advantages offered to startup founders and their staff (building on the existing tax regime for highly skilled and qualified expat workers). And it will rate a tax advantage for employee share option schemes.
The government will create a talent desk, providing a one-stop-shop for advising and guiding highly-skilled workers living abroad who are seeking employees in a Luxembourg startup or scale-up.

Ecosystem

To build on and strengthen Luxembourg’s foundation as a startup nation, the government will work closely with the financial community to attract further fintechs and VC representation. It will also develop an AI experience center at LHoFT.
It will implement the AI Factory project, focused on supporting fintech, space, cybersecurity and sectors operating in sustainability technology.
To foster community-building, the government will offer support for events that boost connection with the startup ecosystem and with the Luxembourg economy. The Luxembourg Venture Days, one of the key annual events for the ecosystem since its 2023 launch, will be promoted on an international level to better connect startups and scale-ups with investors.
LHoFT and Startup Luxembourg will develop a series of events connecting players in the different innovation sectors to boost cross-sector synergies.

The ministers also announced that the Société National de Crédit et d’Investissement, the public-law bank that provides financing and investment support to businesses, will invest a further €300m over 5 years in startups and innovation in Luxembourg.

Accelerating entrepreneurial activity

The 10-step programme, which builds on “From Seed to Scale”, the 2023 startup ecosystem roadmap, was met with warm support from LHoFT.

Director Nasir Zubairi told Silicon Luxembourg: “This action plan addresses pain points with practical steps—especially around coordination, simplification, and support mechanisms—that can create the cohesion and momentum we need to further accelerate entrepreneurial activity. It’s encouraging to see Fintech and digital financial innovation explicitly recognised. Luxembourg has a unique position at the intersection of finance and technology, and it’s vital that we build on this strength.”

Lacking clarity & precision

However, the mood at Luxembourg startup federation PULSE was less celebratory. “What we’ve learned from leading startup nations is simple: precision matters. We’ve waited a long time for this action plan. Now, the community is looking for clear, decisive steps—not broad intentions. It’s time to move from talk to execution,” said PULSE president Genna Elvin.

She added that she’d like to see more tangible actionable measures. For startups wishing to access capital, “the single most critical factor for early-stage startups,” the plan should go further with stock options or other equity incentives for attracting talent. These, she said, are “essential if we want to see more startups get off the ground and thrive.”

While Elvin applauded a tax-friendly environment for highly skilled international talent, she said that more clarity, meanwhile, is needed on how investment will be delivered for scale-ups to avoid pledges sounding like empty promises.

As for the ecosystem, she urged the government not to overlook other high-potential sectors.

Special thanks to our content partner Silicon Luxembourg for the report

About the Author

Jess Bauldry, a journalist at Silicon Luxembourg, has a strong background in UK newspapers before joining Luxemburger Wort and Delano. Her diverse interests include fiction writing, cycling, and stand-up comedy, which contribute to her unique storytelling approach and fresh perspective in reporting.