EIF IN
LUXEMBOURG
Investing in the future of Luxembourgish SMEs
Investing in the future of Luxembourgish SMEs
Small and medium-size enterprises are the heart of the Luxembourgish economy.
Representing 99% of all businesses and more than two thirds of the workforce, Luxembourg's 37,000 SMEs are responsible for driving innovation as well as spurring on growth, and their daily routine is what ensures the competitiveness of the Luxembourgish economy. But to do that, they often need finance.
At the same time, as the smallest actors in the economy, they are often the hardest hit when the economy encounters turbulence, which is why it is so crucial for them to have financial options in order to maintain and eventually grow their businesses.
At the EIF, our mission is to improve access to finance for small businesses across the EU. In Luxembourg, we have been supporting SMEs using a broad range of instruments, including many tailored to the needs of the Luxembourgish market and designed with the Luxembourgish government and local authorities.
As a result, we've been able to support more than 700 Luxembourgish businesses, ranging from companies developing autonomous robotic systems for extra-terrestrial environments, data harmonisation for the financial industry, and wastewater treatment for the petro-gas industry, making sure they have the financial fuel they need to pursue their ambitions.
Our intention is to continue to extend this type of support to the Luxembourgish market, making access to finance easier as we collectively move towards a greener, digital and more inclusive Europe.
Success stories
Lunar Outpost
Success stories
Lunar Outpost
“When it comes to understanding our universe and what’s around us, the better we understand where we live, the better our understanding of where we fit into it,” says Julian Cyrus, President of Lunar Outpost, an advanced technology company focused on designing and developing autonomous robotic systems (“super rovers”) for extra-terrestrial and extreme environments. “From a long-term perspective, in terms of the sustainment of the human species, being able to reach out into the universe and establish ourselves off of earth could provide longevity and stress our planet less.”
Founded in 2017 in Colorado, USA, the company recently opened its European branch, teaming up with the Luxembourg Space Agency to work specifically on thermal control and energy storage technologies. “Luxembourg is very unique as a hub, given the high concentration of space-related start-ups here. I think they really recognise the future of the industry, and that says something about its potential. In Europe, in general, there is a lot of growth potential. Being part of this growing ecosystem, helping other companies to realise their ambitions in the lunar ecosystem is a real opportunity for us,” Julian explains.
Mov’Art
“I think that, since Covid, people tend to take more care of themselves,” says Fabio Teixeira, co-founder of Mov’Art, a studio dedicated to personal training and posturology. “We offer comprehensive support from A to Z.” Along with co-founder Charlie Depaepe, Fabio set up Mov’Art (“art of movement”) in late 2022 to address postural correction, weight-loss, and improving mobility and muscle strength for all age groups, particularly for those who sit in front of a computer all day.
The business model of personal training is an interesting one, with Fabio explaining that many people tend to opt for this type of exercise for a number of reasons: “For some it’s the only way to successfully lose weight. For others it really obliges them to be present, so it’s kind of like a motivation. But for many, it’s the human contact that’s important. Many people look for that – and so do we. It’s the most important part of our job and it’s what we enjoy most. If you’re going to spend an hour with someone without wanting to be with people, then this isn’t the job for you.”
Spire
“When we started in 2012, nobody believed that this sort of thing could be done, so we kept a low profile to avoid being ridiculed,” says Peter Platzer, CEO of Spire Global, a data and analytics company that collects data from space to solve problems on Earth. Through one of the largest satellite constellations in the world, Spire identifies, tracks, and predicts the movement of the world's resources and weather systems so that businesses and governments can make smarter decisions.
Rather than relying on large satellites with large lenses and sensors, Spire use nanosatellites the size of a loaf of bread, with small, power-efficient sensors. Staying in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) helps them take advantage of the number of sensors by passing over each place on Earth hundreds of times per day. “Our satellites have software-defined sensors and we constantly upgrade the software, improving their performance with time. As they are small, we can cost effectively launch hundreds, ensuring high-resolution global coverage with greater value from our data sets.”
Next Gate Tech
Davide Martucci came to Luxembourg in 2015 to set up a fund. “That’s when I really discovered back office,” he says. “In setting up the fund, I faced the challenge of building everything from scratch, and I saw huge discrepancies between the technology and innovation used in front office work compared to back office.” Enter Next Gate Tech, a fintech focused on developing new technologies for the financial service industry via its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which provides extensive data harmonisation and analytics capabilities.
Starting out in 2019, the company had a single use-case, using software to catch anomalies in the valuations of funds. “With the evolution of our technology and client relationships, we started to see that with the same data and the right calculations, we can answer more use cases,” says Davide. “It’s in our DNA to keep innovating with the newest technology, so we aim to keep investing in the product going forward. With more regulation, more demanding clients, and less money available, the answer has to be technology.”
APATEQ
“The point is that we need to get away from the linear economy and target a circular economy. We need to use technology to be able to re-use the same water,” says Bogdan Serban, CEO and co-founder of Apateq, a Luxembourg-based company specialising in wastewater treatment for the petro-gas industry, the maritime sector and the leachate sector (wastewater that collects in landfills). “As the target becomes more challenging, we are forced to innovate at all levels: mechanics, software, hardware, process.”
The innovation, in a nutshell, is in the way the company finds new, effective ways of treating all sorts of difficult wastewater, like water from the oil and gas industry: “When you extract oil and gas,” Bogdan explains, “due to physics and geology, you inevitably get water. For every barrel of oil, you get 3-5 barrels of water. You can pump that water back down into the well, but as wells fill, we need to treat the water in order to repurpose it and inject it elsewhere. That’s where we come in.”
Cyberhedge
“If the primary asset of your company is oil, gas or minerals, you will probably spend a lot of time and resources to protect it, studying the geology, politics and technology, and taking steps to make it more secure. But what happens if your primary asset is data? I started asking around and it didn’t take long to see that there’s really no standard approach to protecting ‘data as an asset’. That was our niche,” explains Ryan Dodd, founder of Cyberhedge, a Luxembourg-based start-up focusing on cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is a very real and immediate risk in today’s business environment. Why? “Partly because it’s invisible, but also partly because we’ve never paid enough attention to security as a strategic issue. Everyone talks about the digital transformation, about technology powering value, and we spend vast amounts on IT systems and digitalisation, but how much have we spent, collectively, on protection? Not enough. It’s very insecure.”
Key figures
Over
of EIF financing
Transactions with financial intermediaries
Equity investments since inception
Guarantees support since inception
made available for
Luxembourgish businesses
Mandates in focus
The EIF continues to deploy capital in Luxembourg under a wide range of strategic programmes and mandates. Below are brief summaries of our main initiatives in Luxembourg.
InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the EU with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It is helping to mobilise private investments for the EU's policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU Programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the EU, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.
RCR
The EIB’s Risk Capital Resources (RCR) is the core pillar of the EIF’s equity activity. It has enabled us to pursue our equity strategy in the venture capital and growth segments for more than 25 years. In 2023, RCR accounted for 25% of our equity activity, committing €1.4bn to financial intermediaries.
EFSI
The European Fund for Strategic Investments formed part of the EU's Investment Plan for Europe, launched by the European Commission in 2015. EFSI addressed market gaps in financing - whether in infrastructure, research, energy efficiency or risk finance for SMEs – and mobilised private investment into these areas. Through EFSI the EIF deployed €10.5bn in resources of the European Commission, the EIB and the EIF to improve access to finance for SMEs and small midcaps.
EGF
The European Guarantee Fund was created by the EIB Group with contributions from Luxembourg and other Member States to protect companies struggling in the crisis caused by COVID-19. With almost EUR 25bn in guarantees, the EGF allowed the EIB and EIF to swiftly offer companies, mostly SMEs and mid-caps, access to loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, capital and other financial instruments. The EGF forms part of the package of recovery measures put in place by the EU, with the objective of providing a total of EUR 540bn to support the hardest hit sectors of the European economy.
REPowerEU
The EU launched REPowerEU in 2022 to reduce dependence on fossil-fuel imports and accelerate the green transition. To support the plan, in October 2022, the EIB Group developed a package of measures focussing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity networks and on deepening its engagement in green innovation and breakthrough technologies. Under REPowerEU, the EIF will invest €4.5bn by 2027 through EIF equity products.
LFF2
The Luxembourg Future Fund 2 is an investment programme set up in cooperation with the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement (SNCI), building on the successful implementation of the LFF 1 initiative. The goal is to stimulate the diversification and sustainable development of the Luxembourgish economy by making available financial resources to venture capital & private equity funds and early to later stage innovative businesses. With €200m in total financing commitments, LFF 2 will provide additional support for innovative projects in Luxembourg. It boasts an enlarged investment scope, now also including hybrid debt-equity investments, enabling the financing of more mature innovative businesses, and co-investments in specific companies.
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