The official opening of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology on 24 April 2017 provides the Grand Duchy with a flagship initiative that will promote the country’s strengths as an entrepreneurial hub and cockpit for the interplay between traditional financial institutions and innovative technology start-ups.
CEO Nasir Zubairi says that in addition to the LHoFT’s most prominent role as an incubator of talent and entrepreneurial ability, providing co-working or office space for early-stage start-ups, the new organisation will stage events such as masterclasses and hackathons, market the country abroad, organise non-mainstream activities such as sports events, and work with partners to expand vocational training.
It will set up a developer sandbox initiative to allow innovators to test out their ideas, collaborate with partners to generate white papers and carry out research, and organise Luxembourg fintech awards.
The LHoFT is focusing on insurance, regulatory and fund technology as well as financial inclusion, in specific areas such as digital investment and portfolio management, blockchain applications, payment solutions, data analytics, artificial intelligence, security and authentication.
Its Innovation Hub, which will offer start-ups from the grand duchy and abroad premises for up to a year and funding, is currently examining applications from 50 start-up firms, from which it will invite an initial list of 10 to enter the incubation facility.
