The Ministry of the Economy and the FNR have launched a call for proposal, in the framework of the FNR’s KITS programme. The aim is to define a business model for the creation of Luxembourg’s first bioincubator aimed at hosting private startups, public research spin-offs and innovative companies exclusively from the HealthTech sector, while fostering their interaction and collaboration with biomedical public research.
The HealthTech sector is a priority of the Luxembourg government’s economic diversification strategy. Significant investments have been done in biomedical public research over the last 10 years. Attracting startups with the potential to innovate and launch their technology in the EU, using Luxembourg as a launchpad, is essential to foster the growth of the sector.
The FNR has created the Knowledge & Innovation Transfer Support Programme (KITS) to provide competitive funding to public research institutions to engage in the strategic integration and operational implementation of knowledge transfer activities, with the ultimate goal of generating economic and societal value through their research programmes.
The call for proposals launched in the context of a Ministry of the Economy (MECO)-FNR KITS Project aims to build on the experience gained with the KITS programme by testing the implementation of a bioincubator in Luxembourg. By setting up a bioincubator and attracting a highly skilled professional in startup incubation, the goal is to facilitate and accelerate the translation of public research results and expertise, developed in the field of HealthTech, into innovation with market potential that can support Luxembourg’s economic diversification strategy and strengthen the local startup ecosystem.
The future bioincubator will be located inside the House of BioHealth (HoBH), which is the only hosting facility in Luxembourg with the authorisation to provide laboratories to companies. The HoBH hosts public research institutes and SMEs active in HealthTech. The specific bioincubator infrastructure within the HoBH aims at providing laboratory space on a flexible basis addressing the needs of spin-offs/startups.
The bioincubator infrastructure and the MECO-FNR KITS call for proposals are the next milestone in a roadmap aiming to develop a HealthTech sector in Luxembourg.
Details of the call for proposals can be downloaded on the website of the FNR. Successful applications can get funding up to 500.000 euros. The call is open until 29 January 2021. Proposals will be supported for 36 months.
Go to KITS programme page